Ontario

As Canada begins to solve the mystery behind the unexpected Saturday plane crash, fresh revelations about two dead passengers having had links to organised crime have made authorities look for a potential conspiracy in the crash.

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On Saturday, a small four-seater aircraft, Piper PA-28 Cherokee, crashed into the rugged hinterlands of Ontario near the town of Sioux Lookout.

According to local reports, neither the pilot, Abhinav Handa, nor the three passengers survived the crash.

Among the passengers identified were 37-year-old Duncan Bailey of Kamloops, B.C., 27-year-old Hankun Hong of Richmond, B.C., and Gene Lahrkamp.

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Among the deceased passengers, police found that Gene Lahrkamp and Duncan Bailey were part of an organised crime syndicate and were reportedly fleeing murder charges when the accident took place.

According to the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia (CFSEU-BC), Lahrkamp is one of the most wanted men in the country with a C$100,000 (US$78,000) bounty on his head, The Guardian reports.

Lahrkamp, a former soldier, was a chief suspect in the murder of gang member Indian-origin Jimi Sandhu, who was shot dead while at a villa in Phuket in February.

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The Thai Police had been on the lookout since then.

Another passenger Bailey had links to the Independent Soldiers gang.

Bailey had been released on bail on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder related to a Vancouver shooting on Oct. 6, 2020, in which 42-year-old Mir Hussain was shot while carrying a baby in a car seat as he left the Bells and Whistles Pub in the Dunbar neighbourhood of Vancouver.

An arrest warrant was issued for Bailey in late April after prosecutors in British Columbia say he breached his bail conditions.

Sergant Brenda Winpenny, from the CFSEU-BC, which was helping Thai police, said the investigators will be probing why the foursome was together and any connections between them.

"What were the circumstances around why Gene Lahrkamp was on that plane?” CBC news quoted Winpenny as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)

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