Richmond politicians expressed shock and concern Monday after the brazen fatal shooting of local developer Amar Singh Sandhu.
Mayor Malcolm Brodie said Sandhu was an “active member of the community.”
“We were really shocked and saddened by the shooting death of Amar Sandhu,” he said. “We’re just very sorry for Amar and his family and friends.”
Brodie confirmed that Sandhu was a regular at the mayor’s fundraising dinners.
Records from the last municipal election show donations to Brodie’s campaign of $2,250 from Sandhu’s Sandhill Developments and Sandhill Homes Ltd.
Sandhu also contributed to the campaigns of several councillors in Richmond and Langley, the two municipalities where he did most of his commercial and residential developments. Records show he also donated to the B.C. Liberal Party.
Staff Sgt. Jennifer Pound, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said Monday that police are looking for a male suspect in his early to mid 20s, about six feet tall, with a slim build. He was wearing a grey hoodie or coat, with medium to dark pants and possibly a baseball cap, she said.
She said investigators “continue to move forward with evidence processing and managing the many witnesses who have come forward.”
Brodie said others in the community are not at risk, given that the shooting was targeted.
“This is a very shocking event for the entire city of Richmond. It is certainly something that is a very rare event. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, it was a targeted type of crime. The general public shouldn’t feel ill at ease, because it wasn’t random in any way.”
“It is a big shock,” he said in a brief phone interview. “I am not in the right state of mind.”
Sandhu donated $3,000 to the Richmond First party in the last election — $500 each from his companies SSB Homes Ltd. and Sandpak Ventures Inc., and $2,000 from Sandhill Development (Langley) Ltd.
Richmond Coun. Bill McNulty said Monday he was also shocked to hear the news about Sandhu.
“It is very tragic. I did know him,” McNulty said. “We’re shocked anything like this happened in Richmond and we’re more shocked that it happened to him.”
In the mid-1980s, Sandhu was a member of the International Sikh Youth Federation, which was later designated a banned terrorist group.
In 1986, Sandhu and eight others were charged with conspiring to murder a visiting Punjabi cabinet minister who was wounded in a shooting near Gold River.
Sandhu became a Crown witness against the four men accused of being directly involved in the shooting.
He testified that he rented the vehicle used to travel to the Island and delivered it to one of the accused men.
All four were later convicted of attempted murder.
The conspiracy charge against Sandhu and the others was stayed after it was revealed that Canada’s spy agency had illegally obtained the wiretap warrant to gather evidence in the case.
