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A man shot in broad daylight in a targeted killing at an office building in Surrey, B.C., early last month was allegedly a “main handler” for the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang and had alleged ties to cricket fixing, the fifth estate has learned.
The RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the man was killed in an office inside a building complex on May 4 just after 3 p.m. local time.
But they didn’t identify the victim or a motive for the shooting despite its public and brazen nature, leading to intrigue and suspicion within the community.
The fifth estate has confirmed his name was Gurvikramjeet Singh Warring.
Sources say gunmen casually walked into the building, shot him and walked out. The fifth estate is not identifying the sources because they fear retribution for speaking out.
According to information obtained by the fifth estate, Warring died inside the Vancouver School of Management, which calls itself a “professional business management training school,” where he was renting an office. He had a number of aliases, including “Satveer Singh Warring,” “Sam Canada” or just “Sam.”
Even in death, two different memorial photos with two different names circulated through the community.
Sources tell the fifth estate the Surrey resident was connected to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, a violent criminal group based in India that Canada has declared a terrorist entity.
The 35-year-old’s death — the latest in ongoing gang-related violence in B.C.’s Lower Mainland — sheds light on the intersection between organized crime, immigration and cricket corruption in Canada.
“This has a very different feel to it, where individuals just walk in, kill someone and then walk out. Absolutely targeted,” said Jinny Sims, a former B.C. MP who is now a Swift 1200 AM radio host and works in the same building as where the shooting happened.
The day after Warring’s death, a social media post from an account appearing to be rival Indian gang leader Rohit Godara claimed responsibility.
The post described Warring as the “main handler” for Lawrence Bishnoi, the gang’s leader, who is in federal prison in India’s Gujarat state.
India-based independent journalist Ritesh Lakhi says Godara is a senior figure in a group that split from the Bishnoi gang and is led by former member Goldy Brar. He says the two sides are embroiled in a bloody war.
“There have been a series of kills, and I believe Sam Canada is also a part of that ongoing series of violent events targeting each other’s groups,” Lakhi said.
Lakhi says the fact that Warring was killed in the shooting sets it apart from typical extortion shootings targeting South Asian businesses, which have been on the rise in Surrey. For example, in other extortion attempts, exteriors of business have been shot at during early morning hours when they are unoccupied.
“[Warring] was certainly … linked with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to the extent that his killing could not have happened without any other bigger reason,” said Lakhi. Though he noted it’s not clear what internal conflicts were happening between the two gangs that led to the shooting.
That same social media post that appeared to be from Godara claimed Warring was involved in fixing cricket matches in Canada and warned that match fixers, bookies and those claiming to be gangsters would be dealt with.
As part of its investigation into allegations of corruption and match-fixing at Cricket Canada published in April, sources had previously told the fifth estate that a figure named “Sam” was connected to threats against players and officials related to who should be on the national team.
Those same sources later confirmed that “Sam” and Warring were the same individual.
The alleged source of threats
The RCMP have said the shooting appeared to be targeted, adding the victim had no criminal history and wasn’t previously the target of threats or extortion attempts.
But according to Sims, who spoke to multiple people in the community who are too afraid to speak publicly, Warring wasn’t targeted by threats because he was allegedly threatening community members.
Sims said some of those people told her they had reported information about “Sam” to police.
“Some people are saying we’ve given information we have to [Surrey] police, so when the police are saying ‘unknown to the police,’ [people in the community] don’t know what’s going on,” Sims said. “They’re confused by that.”
When asked if RCMP could provide information now that Warring has died about whether he was being investigated, it said in a statement Monday that “regardless of whether an individual is deceased, the RCMP does not generally release information relating to criminal investigations until charges are laid, rendering it a matter of public record.”
Wanted in India
It appears Warring was more than just a low-level figure in the Bishnoi gang.
According to multiple reports in Indian media, his aliases appeared on a list released by the Indian government in April 2023 of more than two dozen alleged gangsters from the state of Punjab hiding around the world.
Included in the list of those hiding in Canada, were his aliases: Satveer Singh Warring, or “Sam Canada.”
In addition, media reports suggest that the Indian government shared a list of seven alleged Punjab-origin gangsters living in Canada with the federal government in 2023, and requested their extradition, but it’s not clear what happened next.
In a statement to the fifth estate, the federal Department of Justice said extradition requests are confidential state-to-state communications.
Sims said many in the community are wondering why the Canadian government didn’t act if they knew Warring was wanted in India.
“Once he got here and they had that information, why didn’t they track him down?” Sims said.
“Where did our system fail?”
A hidden link
Warring’s life in Canada appears shrouded in mystery, with rumours swirling around the community about everything from who he is connected to, to the nature of his work.
According to information obtained by the fifth estate, Gurvikramjeet Singh Warring came to Canada in 2013 from India as a temporary foreign worker. He was brought in as an electrician.
Warring appeared to be a legitimate businessman, running an education company that, sources say, helped students get loans to pay for their education from the provincial government.
The fifth estate has confirmed he had at least two businesses registered as numbered companies in his name, one appears to be a fraudulent farm business.
That company applied for temporary foreign worker permits to bring in farm workers.
But in August 2025, it was fined $135,000 by the Canadian government for compliance issues, including not actually doing the business it was hiring foreign nationals for.
A cricket connection
Along with the social media post from the alleged rival gang claiming Warring was a cricket bookie and involved in match-fixing, the fifth estate has also learned that Warring was closely connected to Arvinder Khosa, the recently elected president of Cricket Canada.
Khosa and Warring were seen together at cricket events last year, including the Canada Super 60 cricket tournament held at B.C. Place last October.
Warring attended a celebration for Khosa in April when he was first appointed interim Cricket Canada president, prior to his election the following month.
In its initial investigation into allegations of corruption at Cricket Canada, the fifth estate reported that Khosa was connected to two local players who allegedly threatened a national team player and claimed to represent the Bishnoi gang.
Cricket Canada is under fire amid allegations of corruption and fixing, even at the World Cup. We investigate claims of mistreatment of players and infiltration and death threats by organized crime.
In a March interview with the fifth estate, Khosa denied those allegations, calling them “political propaganda.”
But in that same interview, he said he knew “Sam” or Warring — though only through cricket.
“I know him, but if he is connected, where he’s connected, I have no idea,” Khosa said when asked about Warring’s alleged connection to the Bishnoi gang.
In response to questions about his connection to Warring, Khosa’s lawyer sent the fifth estate a letter stating that Khosa “will not be providing CBC with any comment.”
The letter says it’s because of “CBC’s false and reckless statements that Mr. Khosa has a connection to the Bishnoi gang.”
Cricket Canada did not respond to the fifth estate’s questions about Khosa’s connection to Warring, but did say it has not been approached by any law enforcement agency regarding Warring’s death.
A home Khosa owns in Surrey was shot at 16 days after Warring’s death and again at the beginning of June.
No one was injured, and police say someone connected to the home has received extortion-related threats.
Surrey police have not made any connection between Warring’s killing and the shootings at the home owned by Khosa.
