http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/441734


New immigrant taken in by family as favour to friend faces charges after sons abducted

Jun 12, 2008 04:30 AM
Prithi Yelaja
Staff Reporter

When a friend from India called Gurdeep Virk in Brampton asking him to take in a new immigrant to Canada, he didn't hesitate.

\"I said okay because I was also a new immigrant six years ago, and I'm also Indian. He came with a strong recommendation from my friend, so I allowed him to stay with me,\" says the 49-year-old trucker.

Today, a man is in jail, charged with abduction, kidnapping and uttering death threats. He has been accused of kidnapping the couple's two young sons and holding them for ransom.

Only quick thinking by a motel manager, who called police, thwarted the plan.

A handsome young man, the visitor arrived from New Delhi on a work permit, said Virk. The aspiring model and actor told Virk he was on his way to Calgary, where he had lined up a job as a cook in an Indian restaurant.

\"He seemed very nice and normal. I could never smell anything fishy about him,\" said Virk. He and his wife, Mokshi, a real estate agent, felt comfortable enough to leave their two young sons, Kevin, 6, and Robin, 4, with him.

The visitor had enjoyed the Virks' hospitality for a couple of weeks when, last Thursday afternoon while they were out showing a house, he called to ask if he could take the kids to the park.

The Virks said they arrived home a couple of hours later to an ominous sight: atop a rambling, five-page ransom note was placed a photo of their children, a knife and droplets of blood.

\"It said: `Your kids are kidnapped. Don't think it's a joke,'\" said Virk.

The note made threats about putting poison in the children's ice cream and then cutting them into little pieces if the couple didn't pay a hefty ransom.

The writer had initially wanted $500,000, but because \"you seem like a nice family,\" he offered a discount and demanded $300,000, said Virk. \"We were really shocked. We couldn't believe this was happening.\"

Peel police say the children were found at the Beckford Motel in Brampton, about four kilometres from their home.

The fact that the man with them had no luggage aroused the suspicion of motel manager Czeslawa Zukowska, 55, who once worked as an airport security guard after emigrating from Poland in 1988.

\"When I looked at him with the little kids, I thought something was not right,\" she said, adding she was still shaken from the encounter.

\"When I asked him, `Where is the mother?' he said: `In India.' I followed my instinct and called the police. I'm not a hero. Every citizen is supposed to do that.\"

Police reached the Virks quickly because the children had memorized their phone number. When the relieved couple picked them up at the police station, the officer admonished them for leaving their offspring with a virtual stranger.

\"We've learned a hard lesson. Thank God our kids are safe,\" said Mokshi. Added her husband: \"We'll think twice about helping someone else in future.\"

This week, the Virks thanked Zukowska – who referred to Kevin and Robin as her godchildren – in an emotional meeting where everyone was in tears. The family presented her with a bouquet and took her to dinner. Their gurdwara (temple) also planned a ceremony to honour her.

Manish Sharma, 27, faces two counts each of abduction, kidnapping and uttering death threats.

I cant believe it but i know things like this might happened anytime. It is just like a movie scene. So ungrateful that guy and he will be banned permanently to enter Canada -