B.C. cafe owned by Bollywood star Kapil Sharma shot up a second time
Police are investigating another shots fired incident at Kap's Cafe
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A Surrey café owned by a Bollywood star was targeted by gunfire for the second time in less than a month.
On Thursday morning, Kap’s Cafe in the 8400-block 120th Street was behind police tape once again after an overnight shooting.
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On July 10 at around 4:40 a.m., Surrey police had also received a report of shots fired at the cafe.
Officers found multiple bullet holes, shattered windows and damage to the building. There were employees inside the cafe at the time, but luckily, no one was injured, said Surrey police.
Police are still working to determine motive, said Surrey Police Service Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton.
“We do believe it is connected to the July 10 shots fired based on similar MO, but we don’t have the evidence to support definitively what the motive may be behind it,” he said.
The cafe is owned by Bollywood comedian and TV host Kapil Sharma. It is one of several businesses that have been shot at in recent months amid a wave of extortion-related violence targeting South Asian businessmen in B.C.
Houghton said neither shooting has been definitively linked to extortions, “but our investigators are not ruling it out at this point.”
On Thursday, a video of a purported shooter standing outside a vehicle and firing shots at the cafe circulated on social media.
A video of the July 10 shooting was also posted online immediately after that incident, showing a man firing shots at the business from inside a vehicle, recorded from the shooter’s perspective.
Houghton said police are aware of reports circulating on social media and Indian news outlets that Khalistani separatists and warring Indian gangs have claimed responsibility for the shootings, but described them for the most part as “noise.”
“It matters not to us in most cases if people are saying it has to do with religion or an offensive joke,” he said. “We always have to let the evidence guide where our investigation goes.”
In the weeks following the July shooting, Surrey police cruisers could be seen parked outside the cafe, stepping up their presence in the area as a deterrent.
The shooting forced the closure of the fledgling business for more than a week. It was reopened less than two weeks ago.
Thursday’s shooting came days after Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, police and bylaw enforcement officers and other officials visited the cafe in a show of support.
Eleanore Sturko, B.C.’s Opposition critic for public safety, said on X that recent shootings and extortion cases have left residents feeling “increasingly unsafe.”
Houghton said staff inside the cafe were “quite understandably shaken” by the incidents, which create a “significant amount of anxiety” for other businesses in the area and residents of apartments on the upper floors of the building.
“It’s only a matter of time before somebody gets hurt. We need to stop that and that’s why are appealing to people to come forward and provide information.”
Anyone with information about the shooting or has dashcam footage is asked to contact police at 604-599-0502 or anonymously at Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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