By Gurmukh Singh
Vancouver, April 10 (IANS): Kash Heed, the Indian-origin solicitor general of British Columbia province in Canada who is under scanner for alleged election malpractices, resigned Friday.
A former chief of West Vancouver City Police, Kash Heed (short from Kashmir Heer) is one of the three Indo-Canadians serving in cabinet posts in Canada, including federal parliamentary secretary Deepak Obhrai and Ontario provincial minister Harinder Takhar.
Heed, who belongs one of the oldest Indian families in Canada, was handpicked for the job of top cop of British Columbia by the premier (chief minister) of the province after the May 2009 elections.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) recently started an investigation into poll-related irregularities in his election campaign.
Initially, police said the solicitor general personally was not the subject of the investigation, but later told him that he will be required for questioning.
Though the nature of the alleged irregularities is not known, sources told IANS that these could be related to campaign financing or advertisements.
Putting in his papers, Heed said he will return to his job only after his name is cleared. "I am absolutely confident that I have done nothing wrong, that is why I am going to fully co-operate with the RCMP and it is that reason that I am stepping aside to maintain the integrity of this office and to maintain my integrity,'' Heed said.
Heed, whose family hails from Punjab, added, "I have concluded, out of the respect and regard for the office of Solicitor General of British Columbia and to ensure the continued integrity of that office, that the appropriate action is to step aside pending the outcome of this investigation.''
Asked by the media about the focus of the investigation against him, the Indian-origin top cop said, "I have no idea what this is about. I don't think it is right for me to talk about it especially since I don't know much about it.''
The resignation of the highly respected Heed shocked the huge Indo-Canadian community here.
"It is a real shock to the community because Heed is an honest and capable person. Maybe someone in his campaign did something wrong and he is paying for that,'' community leader Balwant Sanghera told IANS.
"It was Heed who was instrumental in the creation of the special task force in this province to stop Indo-Canadian gang violence which has claimed more than a hundred young lives,'' added Sanghera.