Violent extortion threats forced him to transform his life. He wasn't alone

For months, Abbotsford, B.C., businessman Jas Arora had been getting phone calls from strangers — people demanding money and threatening his family if he didn't pay up. But the threats became real this August when his son woke him late one night, saying someone was throwing things at the house.

Arora raced outside, where he was overwhelmed by the smell of gasoline and found the driveway covered in broken glass.

"My wife said, 'No, no, go inside right away … Please, shut down the lights and call the police immediately.' " 

So he did. When he checked the footage from his surveillance camera he saw grainy video of a man dressed in dark clothes hurling bottles at the house from outside the iron gate surrounding his home. 

As Arora was talking to the police at his house, his phone rang. A man speaking in Punjabi demanded money and told Arora he had 72 hours to pay up — or they would kill him. 

Arora's story is one of dozens of cases of attempted extortion and subsequent acts of violence against those in the South Asian community being investigated in Canada, with police suggesting many more have gone unreported. Then, last month, the RCMP held a news conference, accusing agents of the Indian government of orchestrating a campaign of violence and intimidation here. Soon after, six Indian diplomats were expelled from the country 

While Arora and others caught up in the extortion attempts are encouraged by these announcements, they can't help but worry that it may be too soon to let their guard down after the threats and violence wreaked such havoc on their lives.   

Arora owns Highway King Transport, a trucking company headquartered in Abbotsford, B.C., with more than 300 trucks, and satellite offices in Calgary and India. 

The first threat came in March 2023 in the form of an in-person warning from a man Arora knew through his business.

He says the man told him he was delivering a message from people who wanted $2,000,000. If Arora didn't hand it over, the man said they would kidnap and kill him. 

Arora says he contacted the police right away.  

Then in May 2023, somebody called Arora on WhatsApp demanding $1,000,000. He says the man spoke in Punjabi and threatened to kill him, warning: "When we shoot, don't keep your family at home."

Arora again reported the threats to the police. But the calls kept coming. When he stopped answering his phone, they started calling his wife. 

Arora invited CBC News to his Abbotsford home in September, where he demonstrated the extra security he's installed, including more lights and cameras. He noted that when he spoke to police about his case three weeks earlier, they told him they had no updates. Arora says he's stopped going to the gym and public events and now has a German shepherd guarding the house.