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“Detectives believe the two incidents are linked and are asking anyone with information to come forward. Drivers with dash cam video who were travelling in the area (Friday) evening are asked to contact IHIT immediately,” Cpl. Frank Jang said.

“Bikramjit Khakh was known to police and his murder is believed to be linked to the ongoing gang conflict in the Lower Mainland.”

He said Khakh “was targeted for murder.”

“Developing the timeline of Mr. Khakh’s activities prior to his death will be one of the priorities for our detectives and we urge anyone who can help us do so to contact us immediately,” Jang said.

Photo by Jason Payne / PNG

Anyone with information should contact IHIT at 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

Khakh was a one-time associate of Manny Buttar, who had more recently been aligned with the Brothers Keepers gang.

Postmedia News has learned he was on a boat cruise last July with other BK members, including Matthew Navas-Rivas, who was also shot to death in Vancouver the day after the cruise.

Khakh was also arrested by Vancouver Police in 2010 in a crackdown related to a South Slope gang conflict.

In 2012, he was handed a two-year conditional sentence for break and enter after being convicted with another then-Buttar associate. Firearm charges he faced were dropped.

In May 2017, Khakh took out a loan for a 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, according to the Personal Property Registry. He turned 30 on Dec. 20 — the day before his friend Dhaliwal was shot in Richmond.

Dhaliwal is the brother of Barinder (Shrek) Dhaliwal, an Abbotsford gang member sentenced to a year in jail last June after being seen tossing a firearm into some bushes in 2016.

Shrek Dhaliwal has repeatedly been attacked in prison while serving his term.

kbolan@postmedia.com

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