Dead gangster Tejinder Singh Malli had his own crime group, operated at a very high level

Victims’ vehicle. Photo courtesy of CBC
Victims’ vehicle. Photo courtesy of CBC

TEJINDER Singh Malli, 29, of Richmond, who died Tuesday after having been shot Monday night in downtown Vancouver, had been involved at a very high level in the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict for at least a decade and operated his own crime group.

Sgt. Lindsey Houghton of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – BC told The VOICE on Tuesday: “He had his own Malli crime group.”

He added: “Over the years his allegiances and his associations changed a lot; so he moved around a bit.”

When I asked Houghton who Malli had been in conflict with most recently, he said: “Depending on who you talk to, there are a number of groups and a number of people who it’s believed he had conflicts with, groups like the UN and some of the people who used to be associated to the UN gang would be one.”

Houghton told me: “Malli was involved in the City of Vancouver as part of the South Slope gang conflict that had been going on, he had a longstanding association to the Red Scorpions as well as the Buttar crime group.

“It was well documented that he was the subject of multiple police investigations over the years, including the Vancouver Police Projects Rebellion and Torrent back in 2009.

“He had been the subject of multiple warnings from police over the years and he was well aware that his gang lifestyle put his and those he associated with at risk. He was absolutely no stranger at all to gang violence. Many of his close associates had been murdered over the years and he was known to be at odds with many of the people in the ongoing gang conflict.”

Sgt. Lindsey HoughtonMALLI was shot Monday in downtown Vancouver’s Coal Harbour neighbourhood while sitting in a vehicle outside the Shaw Tower at 1067 West Cordova Street near Thurlow around 10:30 p.m. He died in hospital on Tuesday.

A 28-year-old North Vancouver man, who was with Malli, was seriously injured but was in stable condition in hospital.

Vancouver Police Sgt. Randy Fincham said: “The victims are known to police, are associated to gangs and are connected to the drug trade. It is still early in the investigation, but the murder does appear to be targeted.”

Vancouver Police spoke to several witnesses. One witness told the media that after the shooting two men ran west down Cordova and jump into the backseats of a silver SUV that sped off southbound on Bute Street.

The two victims were in a parked car when they were shot. The North Vancouver man got out and ran. He was found a block away by emergency personnel. The Richmond man remained in the car. Both were rushed to hospital.

On Thursday, Vancouver Police said they were searching for a suspect vehicle that is believed to have been used as a getaway car after the shooting.

Investigators believe that the shooters may have been in the area for an hour or two prior to the incident, and they used a vehicle to flee the scene following the shooting.

Anyone with information about a suspicious vehicle in the area of Cordova and Thurlow Street between 9 and 10:30 p.m. on March 10 is asked to contact the VPD Major Crime Section at (604) 717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477.

BY RATTAN MALL