For the second time in a month, a Surrey, B.C., café owned by famed Indian comedian and TV host Kapil Sharma has been shot at.
The latest incident at Kap’s Cafe happened early Thursday morning, according to the Surrey Police Service (SPS).
The police department says officers responded to shots fired at a business in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood in the 8400 block of 120th Street at around 4:40 a.m. PT.
At a news conference Thursday, Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said officers found a suspicious bottle at the scene.
“There was a bottle with a rag in it — that has all the hallmarks of a Molotov cocktail, or a Molotov cocktail-type of device,” Houghton said.
Officers will test the evidence to confirm what it was.
Shots were also fired at Kap’s Cafe last month, on July 10. The café opened on July 3, according to its Instagram account.
Houghton said there is no investigative update on the July shooting but added the case is active.
Similar to July 10, Houghton said staff were in the building baking when the incident happened Thursday morning.
“Thankfully, no staff were injured,” Houghton said.
He said there is no definitive link to extortion, a rising concern for local South Asian businesses, but that investigators are not ruling it out.
Houghton noted a video related to Thursday morning’s incident is circulating online and stressed for people to be mindful of the source.
“We would always urge caution to people to take everything you read on social media with a large grain of salt. We need to let the evidence guide the investigation.”
Kap’s Cafe owner Sharma is one of the most famous comedians and entertainers in India, with more than 45 million followers on Instagram.
Chetan Singh lives and works nearby Kap’s Cafe. He’s been to the business twice since it opened, but said he’s unsure if he’ll go again in the near future after the two shootings.
“I feel very bad. This is a new café, just recently opened,” he said. “We are not feeling safe right now.”
He said he hopes police catch the perpetrator.
“This impacts our society in a bad manner. And no one wants that.”
Surrey police are asking anyone with information about the incident or anyone who may have been in the area at the time and have video or dash cam footage to contact 604-599-0502 and quote file number 25-66351 (SP), or to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
