a***@hotmail.com
2006-03-29 01:35:35 UTC
Tamil gang boss deported to Sri Lanka from Canada
Michelle Shephard:
The reputed leader of a Tamil gang whose battle with rival gang members
on the streets of Toronto claimed the lives of more than a dozen youths
in the late 1990s, and once led to a midday shooting on Highway 404,
was deported late last night to Sri Lanka.
Kaileshan Thanabalasingham was one of the main targets of Project 1050,
a joint police and immigration investigation that ended with the arrest
of close to 51 alleged gang members on Oct. 18, 2001.
The majority of the accused were charged under a section of the
immigration act that prohibits involvement in a criminal organization,
marking the first time street gangs were classified as "organized
crime" under immigration laws.
Known in Toronto's Tamil community as Kailesh, the 36-year-old father
was accused of leading the VVT gang, a west Toronto group that was
formed in the early 1990s and named for Valvettithurai, a northern Sri
Lankan town.
Thanabalasingham denied he led the VVT, or that his criminal
convictions - possessing a machete in 1996 and a 1998 conspiracy to
commit assault for trying to acquire guns for others - were related
to gang membership.
A January Immigration and Refugee Board decision that cleared the way
for his removal classified both convictions as gang-related and also
noted Thanabalasingham was known to visit incarcerated gang members.
"It's quite instructive that the appellant took it upon himself to
attend court when gang members were charged with criminal offences, to
assist in preparing their defence and then visit them in jail when
incarcerated. He acted like a shepherd tending to his flock," wrote IRB
appeal division member Egya Sangmuah in his Jan. 6 decision.
Thanabalasingham's lawyer, Barbara Jackman, had argued that as a Tamil,
he would be targeted by the Sri Lankan government if returned home due
to media reports that have linked the VVT to the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, a guerrilla group fighting the Singhalese
government for independence.
Sangmuah dismissed claims that Thanabalasingham would face danger.
"The Minister (of Immigration) does not allege that the appellant or
the VVT is connected to the LTTE," he wrote. "(E)ven if the appellant
is wrongly perceived as a member of the LTTE, he will likely not face
persecution."
Jackman said yesterday she believed her client was being punished
unfairly since he had already been sentenced for his criminal activity.
"If someone commits a criminal offence, they go to trial, they get a
sentence, they get punished for it. Are they ever allowed to overcome
it? Yes. In Kailesh's case where his family's all here and he has a
clean record since 1998, the board and the minister still think he
should be effectively punished," she said.
Thanabalasingham came to Canada in July 1991 and was granted refugee
status, then became a landed immigrant on Aug. 31, 1992. Police believe
he became leader of the VVT in 1997, after the two former alleged
leaders, Sri Ranjan Rasa and Niranjan Claude Fabian, were arrested (the
men remain in Canada fighting their deportation).
VVT's primary target was rival AK Kannan, whose stronghold was in
Scarborough. Police allege Jothiravi Sittampalam formed that group,
naming it after his street name (Kannan, meaning God) and his love for
the AK-47 assault weapon. Before his incarceration he had more than one
attempt on his life including the incident in April 2001 when his car
was surrounded on an off-ramp of Highway 404 and VVT members opened
fire, only slightly injuring him.
One of the gangs' most high-profile crimes occurred in December 1997,
when suspected VVT members shot at a doughnut shop that was a known AK
Kannan hangout, killing Kapilan Palasanthiran, an innocent University
of Waterloo student, and injuring two others.
During a series of retaliatory crimes, a gang member was seriously
injured in 2000 after he was run over by a car, followed by an attack
on occupants of a car idling at a Kennedy Rd. address in Scarborough.
It was again a case of mistaken identity and two Tamil teenagers not
connected to the gangs were killed.
"For three years the Tamil community was held hostage by two gangs
vying for control in Toronto," said Det. Sgt. Greg Getty, head of
Project 1050, in an interview yesterday before Thanabalasingham was
escorted on a 10:40 p.m. flight out of Toronto.
"If he does get deported, it's a great day for the Tamil community."
Only 10 of the 51 alleged gang members arrested in 2001 have been
deported. They include AK Kannan's reputed senior member, 33-year-old
Panchalingam Nagalingam, who was deported in December. Panchan, as he
was known in the community, was often referred to as an AK Kannan
enforcer. Police sometimes called him "the cat" for his ability to
cheat death.
Before his arrest in December 2000, bullets narrowly missed his baby
son and girlfriend. Through the media, he told the shooters to leave
his family alone and to deal with him instead. In March the next year,
he was shot six times as he left the Mimico Detention Centre, where he
was serving a sentence on weekends. When interviewed by the Star that
summer Nagalingam said he had "no idea" why he was targeted.
Another senior member associated with the VVT was deported in January.
Jeyaseelan Thuraisingam, known on the street as Seelapu, was deported
after his final court appeal for protection was thrown out.
Sittampalam, the alleged 35-year-old leader of AK Kannan, remains in
Canada awaiting a final federal court appeal. Unlike Thanabalasingham,
who paid a $55,000 cash bond in January 2004, with a promise of $40,000
more if he violated bail conditions, Sittampalam has remained in
custody since his 2001 arrest.
"These are largely permanent residents and people whom Canada has
granted protection from persecution and the threshold for deportation
is much higher," said Canadian Border and Security Agency spokesperson
Anna Pape yesterday, explaining the time it takes for these cases to
work their way through immigration and court appeals.
"Just because it's a lengthy process doesn't mean it's not worth
pursuing. The real success of this project lies at the community level.
It's meaningful to Canadians because our efforts are resulting in the
dismantling of a network of organized criminals and resulting in a
large reduction of local crime."
After the arrests four and a half years ago, many in Toronto's Tamil
community said they breathed a sigh of relief and there was a
noticeable dip in crime in Tamil neighbourhoods.
But lately some new youths are attempting to fill the void. Police
sources say that while the violence has not reached the level it was in
the 1990s, Tamil youth groups calling themselves names such as the MCF
(Money Comes First), Bravehearts or TBT (True Brown Thugs), are
starting to build up their ranks.
Michelle Shephard:
The reputed leader of a Tamil gang whose battle with rival gang members
on the streets of Toronto claimed the lives of more than a dozen youths
in the late 1990s, and once led to a midday shooting on Highway 404,
was deported late last night to Sri Lanka.
Kaileshan Thanabalasingham was one of the main targets of Project 1050,
a joint police and immigration investigation that ended with the arrest
of close to 51 alleged gang members on Oct. 18, 2001.
The majority of the accused were charged under a section of the
immigration act that prohibits involvement in a criminal organization,
marking the first time street gangs were classified as "organized
crime" under immigration laws.
Known in Toronto's Tamil community as Kailesh, the 36-year-old father
was accused of leading the VVT gang, a west Toronto group that was
formed in the early 1990s and named for Valvettithurai, a northern Sri
Lankan town.
Thanabalasingham denied he led the VVT, or that his criminal
convictions - possessing a machete in 1996 and a 1998 conspiracy to
commit assault for trying to acquire guns for others - were related
to gang membership.
A January Immigration and Refugee Board decision that cleared the way
for his removal classified both convictions as gang-related and also
noted Thanabalasingham was known to visit incarcerated gang members.
"It's quite instructive that the appellant took it upon himself to
attend court when gang members were charged with criminal offences, to
assist in preparing their defence and then visit them in jail when
incarcerated. He acted like a shepherd tending to his flock," wrote IRB
appeal division member Egya Sangmuah in his Jan. 6 decision.
Thanabalasingham's lawyer, Barbara Jackman, had argued that as a Tamil,
he would be targeted by the Sri Lankan government if returned home due
to media reports that have linked the VVT to the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, a guerrilla group fighting the Singhalese
government for independence.
Sangmuah dismissed claims that Thanabalasingham would face danger.
"The Minister (of Immigration) does not allege that the appellant or
the VVT is connected to the LTTE," he wrote. "(E)ven if the appellant
is wrongly perceived as a member of the LTTE, he will likely not face
persecution."
Jackman said yesterday she believed her client was being punished
unfairly since he had already been sentenced for his criminal activity.
"If someone commits a criminal offence, they go to trial, they get a
sentence, they get punished for it. Are they ever allowed to overcome
it? Yes. In Kailesh's case where his family's all here and he has a
clean record since 1998, the board and the minister still think he
should be effectively punished," she said.
Thanabalasingham came to Canada in July 1991 and was granted refugee
status, then became a landed immigrant on Aug. 31, 1992. Police believe
he became leader of the VVT in 1997, after the two former alleged
leaders, Sri Ranjan Rasa and Niranjan Claude Fabian, were arrested (the
men remain in Canada fighting their deportation).
VVT's primary target was rival AK Kannan, whose stronghold was in
Scarborough. Police allege Jothiravi Sittampalam formed that group,
naming it after his street name (Kannan, meaning God) and his love for
the AK-47 assault weapon. Before his incarceration he had more than one
attempt on his life including the incident in April 2001 when his car
was surrounded on an off-ramp of Highway 404 and VVT members opened
fire, only slightly injuring him.
One of the gangs' most high-profile crimes occurred in December 1997,
when suspected VVT members shot at a doughnut shop that was a known AK
Kannan hangout, killing Kapilan Palasanthiran, an innocent University
of Waterloo student, and injuring two others.
During a series of retaliatory crimes, a gang member was seriously
injured in 2000 after he was run over by a car, followed by an attack
on occupants of a car idling at a Kennedy Rd. address in Scarborough.
It was again a case of mistaken identity and two Tamil teenagers not
connected to the gangs were killed.
"For three years the Tamil community was held hostage by two gangs
vying for control in Toronto," said Det. Sgt. Greg Getty, head of
Project 1050, in an interview yesterday before Thanabalasingham was
escorted on a 10:40 p.m. flight out of Toronto.
"If he does get deported, it's a great day for the Tamil community."
Only 10 of the 51 alleged gang members arrested in 2001 have been
deported. They include AK Kannan's reputed senior member, 33-year-old
Panchalingam Nagalingam, who was deported in December. Panchan, as he
was known in the community, was often referred to as an AK Kannan
enforcer. Police sometimes called him "the cat" for his ability to
cheat death.
Before his arrest in December 2000, bullets narrowly missed his baby
son and girlfriend. Through the media, he told the shooters to leave
his family alone and to deal with him instead. In March the next year,
he was shot six times as he left the Mimico Detention Centre, where he
was serving a sentence on weekends. When interviewed by the Star that
summer Nagalingam said he had "no idea" why he was targeted.
Another senior member associated with the VVT was deported in January.
Jeyaseelan Thuraisingam, known on the street as Seelapu, was deported
after his final court appeal for protection was thrown out.
Sittampalam, the alleged 35-year-old leader of AK Kannan, remains in
Canada awaiting a final federal court appeal. Unlike Thanabalasingham,
who paid a $55,000 cash bond in January 2004, with a promise of $40,000
more if he violated bail conditions, Sittampalam has remained in
custody since his 2001 arrest.
"These are largely permanent residents and people whom Canada has
granted protection from persecution and the threshold for deportation
is much higher," said Canadian Border and Security Agency spokesperson
Anna Pape yesterday, explaining the time it takes for these cases to
work their way through immigration and court appeals.
"Just because it's a lengthy process doesn't mean it's not worth
pursuing. The real success of this project lies at the community level.
It's meaningful to Canadians because our efforts are resulting in the
dismantling of a network of organized criminals and resulting in a
large reduction of local crime."
After the arrests four and a half years ago, many in Toronto's Tamil
community said they breathed a sigh of relief and there was a
noticeable dip in crime in Tamil neighbourhoods.
But lately some new youths are attempting to fill the void. Police
sources say that while the violence has not reached the level it was in
the 1990s, Tamil youth groups calling themselves names such as the MCF
(Money Comes First), Bravehearts or TBT (True Brown Thugs), are
starting to build up their ranks.