Sikh found dead in suspicious circumstances

TORONTO: A Sikh man was found dead at his parents' home in suspicious circumstances, less than two months after his wife was killed in an alleged robbery attempt.

Paul Cheema, 34, was found dead by a family member on Monday night in the basement of their home in South Surrey.

Cheema had been living at the home with his parents after the death of his wife, elementary school principal Shemina Hirji.

Hirji was murdered in July. Cheema was questioned and released without charge in the case.

A spokesman of Royal Canadian Mounted Police Dale Carr said "We're nowhere near the end of that investigation and once we have all the evidence before us and have a total look at it, we'll make either some arrests or an announcement in relation to that."

Carr wouldn't confirm the death was a suicide, saying only that it was "suspicious". "An autopsy may assist, and we're hopeful that that is the case," he was quoted as saying by media here.

Cheema, a Sikh, and Hirji, an Ismaili Muslim, met two years before they married.

In 1995, Cheema was convicted of forcible confinement, uttering threats and attempted kidnapping in two separate incidents involving his former fiancee in Winnipeg. He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison and also attempted suicide once.

He had been scheduled to be deported to England, where he was born but won an appeal to stay in Canada in October 1997.

Carr said Cheema's death does not mean the investigation into Hirji's murder is over.