Killing met with shock From page 1 ea murder conspiracy and = the attempted murder of Siamak Zahedi, 24, of North Vancouver. On June 25, 1996, Zahedi was shot several times after 60 masked intruders entered a house in the 300-biock of West 21st Street in . North Vancouver. Zahedi is paralysed as a result of the shooting. 5 Also charged with conspiracy to : 3 -sh commit the murder of Zahedi is oy Kamran Gafarhorbani, 20, of North Vancouver. A third man, Ali Alamdari, 19, was charged with Zahedi’s attempted murder, but the North Van Crown dropped the charge shortly after it was faid in December. About four moaths after Zahedi’s shooting, Alamdari’s home in the 100-block of East 17th Sureet was sprayed with five bullets during a drive-by shooting. Rezaei, who experiences severe seizures because of his gunshot injury, has been in custody since being released from hospital last month. On Wednesday, Const. Seaman confirmed that Mirhadi, Rezaci and Zahedi knew cach other and “they had some conflicts with each . other.” a Mirhadi’s former employer, Farid Dordar, described him as a helpful person who was dedicated to his three-month-old daughter. “The last time I saw him was about three wecks ago when he brou; daughter in. He loved her totally and was always talking about plans future,” said Dordar- ‘While Mirhadi did not have an adult criminal record, he did have a record: BB MING COURTS 12 RESTAURANT B : someone § trom this’. t his r her to miss him.” + CHESTERFIELD AVE, - RCMP investigators want information from witnesses who were at the Thai House restaurant late Friday evening following the murder of Mohammed Mirhadi inside a nearby theatre. Mirhadi attended Sutherland secondary and the Lucas Cet.tre’s Youth Learning Centre of North Shore Continuing Education. Said teacher Lynda Woodhead, “It is a great shock. I always enjoyed hav- ing him in the class. He was always a polite, :espectful student. We are going Wednesday. March 5, 1997 — North Shore News — 3 | NVD back again to a 100% butt ban By Martin Millerchip Contributing Writer NORTH Vancouver District Council is through blowing smoke rings around the issue of smoking in restaurants and pubs. On Monday night, only one week after softening its long- © announced hard-line approach approving a so-called smoking, council took it on the chin from its chicf Medical. | Health Officer and a number of outraged citizens. : “Your stinks,” charged Edgemont resi- dent Corrie Kost. a “It stinks because it leaves deadly smoke lingering in many cating and drinking establisb- - ments. : “It stinks because this is by - far the weakest bylaw put for- ward by any municipality in the Lower Mainland. - ~ “Ir stinks because, at the last ~ minute the public was stabbed in -- the back — unaware that! you would change your mind ‘after, : third reading with the agenda item giving no indication to the contrary. ee “It stinks because your weak- revamped bylaw... - Bin 1994 he was convicted of assault with a weapon in North Vancouver; Bin 1993 he was convicted of break and enter in Port uitham: Bin 1991 he was convicted of armed robbery in North Vancouver. Mirhadi worked as a junior karate instructor at Dordar’s Champions on East Ist Street in North Vancouver. Mirhadi had a black belt and f many karate competitions. He stopped working at Champions about 18 months ago. Mirhadi scopped training in martial arts after being injured in a car accident, said Dordar. ad won . In previous years, the Persian Pride name has been associated with teenagers who had constan: run-ins with the law in connection with increas- ingly violent acts. The North Vancouver Mounties said there is no major organized crime element in the North Shore Iranian Community. “Ninety-nine point nine per cent of kids of Iranian backgrounds are good kids,” said Seaman. The gun used in Mirhadi’s shooting was a 9 mm. It.was not recovered. Police are asking anyone who may have been cating late that evening at the Thai House restaurant to contact them. The restaurant’s east side on knced and spineless reaction to the hospitality industry will neg- atively impact not. only our resi dents but those of other municd- palities. ht “Finally it stinks because you. have put the possible short-term loss of jobs before the health and Dordar said Mirhadi was lifting weights and not participating in martial _ arts lately. Wounded Persian Pride player faces numerous charges confinement of Randy Chan, 18, and extortion tar- geting Chan’s older brother Raymond Chan, a Lotus gang member. One of the co-accused in the alleged crimes was Bindy (Bhupinder) Johal, 25. Jchal was charged with extortion. About one year ago, Johal was acquitted of the premeditated mur- ders of brothers Ron and Jim Dosanjh. The Dosanjh brothers, linked by the police to the drug trade, were shot in February and April 1994. in Vancouver. PERSIAN Pride member Mani Rezaci was on life § in December, recovering after a bullet went ‘through his head, when he was charged with rob- bery, kidnapping, unlawful confinement and extor- tion. : Rezaci, 20, of North Vancouver, was charged with the Oct. 21 offences less than a week after he was injured in a gang-style shooting in November. The case involves the alleged kidnapping and NEWS ANALYSIS cial court. Strike gang task force By Leo Knight Contributing Writer FRIDAY night’s execution-style killing at the Espianade cinema in North Vancouver should not have come as a surprise to many people. Certainly the venue was shocking, using Hollywood’s newest gangster movie, Donnie Brasco, as a backdrop to murder displays an arrogance previously unknown in our mild-mannered city. But the execution of Mohammed Mirhadi is not the story in itself. In the first few months of 1994, the city was gripped with fear because of a turf war being fought with guns on the street and with chreats in the media. The Dosanjh brothers fell vicum to the violence. So, too, did innocent bystander Glen Olson, unlucky to have been a neighbor of Bindy Johal. The drug war triggered a massive police investigation in an attempt to stop the indiscriminate violence. Charges were laid against six people involved iu the Dosanjh killings. No charges have yet been laid relative to the murder of Glen Olson. However, Vancouver Police believe the shooter in the Olson case was himself'a victim of the gang war. The resutting jury trial, the longest in B.C.’s history, of Bindy Johal and his minions, resulted in their acquittals on charges of first-degree murder in what was certainly one of the most ridicu- lous jury decisions this side of the O.J. Simpson debacle. The fernale juror now charged with jury tampering stands accused of having a physical relationship with one of the accused gangsters during the tal. She is due for her own ial next month. While not usually predisposed to the juvenile game of “I told you so,” allow me to quote from a column { wrote following the acquitral. “The jurors abdicated their responsibility as citizens by acquit- ting these men. This abdication has now allowed this war to con- tinue. Hunker down, dear reader, the bullets are about to fly.” Since I wrote those words in November 1995 there have been well over a dozen shootings that are attributable to the gang war for control of the cocaine trade on our streets. ‘Those are only the ones the police can directly de in. There are at least a dozen more that may be linked. Friday’s violence is merely the latest shots fired in the war. There have been four shootings related to North Vancouver alone, resulting in two deaths, which can be tied to the turf bartle. Ordinarily, I wouldn't give a passing thought to the murder of any of these thugs. However, blazing away in a crowded the- atre is frightening in the extreme. By God’s grace no one other than the intended target got hit. But these people, and 1 use the term advisedly, have already demonstrated they don’t care about innecent lives. They don’r seem to care about ay lives other than their own. H this war is allowed to continue unabated, how long might it be before another bystander like Glen Olson gets killed? The citizens of this city should not sit back and wait for the Chesterfield Avenue has a view of the theatre. Call 985-1331. Vancouver City Police said that Rezaci, Johal and Lotus gang member Raymond Chan all knew each other. Sources told the News that there is an ongo- ing war among Lower Mainland drug dealer:. At the time Rezaci was charged with kidnapping and extor- tion, he was also facing unrelated i and threatening charges in North Vancouver provin- —Anna Marie D’Angelo . safety of your residents.” , 4 And whether or not it was the threat of facing lawsuits; arisin: from lung-cancer deaths, council went back to a complete: ban on smoking in restaurants by 1998 and in pubs by 2000. / ly. Last week’s version. of the bylaw, which had previously been held under an‘ ashtra somewhere in district! hall: for seven months, would have allowed restaurants to keep 30%: and *70/30, 30/70” restriction on 45 trafficking, See NVD page § answer to that question. Attomey General Ujjal Dosanjh should . step from behind his well-rehearsed rhetoric and prove he actual- ly does give a damn for his office and his responsibilities as chief. “> law enforcement officer for British Columbia. ; He should immediately authorize a Joint Forces Operation/Task Force to focus on this specific problem. No pol- itics. No lies. No budgetary restrictions. To coin a well-known advertising slogan, “Just do it!” . The attorney general was so quick to respond to the Sikh Temple violence in Surrey, he cut short his boondoggle trip to" the sub-continent to rerum to his office, ostensibly to monitor the situation. This matter is far more serious. It doesn’t require his moni- toring, it cries out for his action. : Local police can only deal with the part of the problem that bleeds in their jurisdiction. But this war doesn’t know municipal boundaries. These clowns operate from Abbotsford to Lions Bay. Having parallel investigations in the various jurisdictions will not get the job done. And this job desperately needs to be done and done well. Let me give the attorney general one more piece of free advice. There are a few investigators who were involved in this movie (no pun intended) from the beginning. They are no longer allowed to have anything to do with any aspect of these shootings for what appears to be reasons of political correctness. I would suggest it is niuch more politically incorrect to have innocent cinzens bleeding on the streets. The ball is in your court, minister. ‘ — The North Shore News believes strongly in freedom of speech and the right of all sides in a debate to be heard. The columnists pub- lished in the News present differing points of view, but those views are not necessarily those of the newspaper itielf