Steven Vikash Chand is one of 17 people arrested in the

2006 Toronto terrorism arrests The 2006 Ontario terrorism case refers to the plotting of a series of attacks against targets in Southern Ontario, Canada, and the June 2, 2006 counter-terrorism raids in and around the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 14 adu ...

. He and his conspirators are alleged to have plotted coordinated bombing attacks against targets in southern Ontario.

Life

Chand enrolled in the Royal Regiment of Canada, a Toronto reserve Infantry unit, in June 2000. Two years later he renounced his

Hindu faith Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and declared himself to have adopted

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. In April 2004, he left the military reserves. Briefly unemployed, the 25-year-old Chand approached

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

Aly Hindy Aly Hindy is the Imam of the Salaheddin Islamic Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada once called "Toronto's million-dollar radical mosque” by the ''National Post''. Career Hindy immigrated to Canada in 1975 after graduating in Engineering from ...

for financial help, before finding himself a job at a local Shawarma

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...

restaurant.Thomas, Vanessa and Make Becker. Buffalo News
A portrait of terrorist suspects
June 5, 2006

Arrest

Police originally said that he had adopted the alias Abdul Shakur, which later turned out to be the name his apartment was rented under. As a result of preferred direct indictment by the Crown Attorney on September 24, 2007, Chand was re-arrested and charged with counseling to commit fraud over $5,000 for the benefit of a terrorist group. Police informant

Mubin Shaikh Mubin Shaikh is a former security intelligence and counter terrorism operative, currently a Professor of Public Safety at Seneca College and also Counter Extremism Specialist for the U.S.-based NGO, Parents for Peace. He rose to prominence in his ...

and Chand had known each other prior to the alleged plots, and he is one of the suspects that Shaikh has publicly stated should not have been arrested, and that "the guy is not what they're making him out to be, not at all". Chand is represented by Michael A. Moon.

Trial

Chand was being tried simultaneously with

Asad Ansari The 2006 Ontario terrorism case refers to the plotting of a series of attacks against targets in Southern Ontario, Canada, and the June 2, 2006 counter-terrorism raids in and around the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 14 adu ...

and

Fahim Ahmad Fahim Ahmad (born August 10, 1984) is one of 11 people convicted in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case. He was a ringleader in the group. He was 21 years old at the time of arrest, and married with two children. Life Fahim Ahmad was born in Afghanista ...

in Brampton until Ahmad pleaded guilty. In the trial he is identified as having been a secondary leader at the training camps (after Fahim Ahmed). He and Ansari were both found guilty on June 23, 2010 of knowingly participating in a terrorist group and Chand was also found guilty of counselling to commit fraud over $5,000 for the benefit of a terrorist group. The court heard that he had helped set up a training camp in

Washago Severn is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada, located between Lake Couchiching, and the Severn River (both are part of the Trent–Severn Waterway) in Simcoe County. Communities The township comprises the communities of Amigo Beach, Ar ...

, Ontario, in December 2005. They were the only members of the 18 to be tried by jury rather than by a lone judge. On 26 November 2010, Chand, age 29, was given a ten-year sentence, reduced for time served to 7 months and 10 days, in Ontario Superior Court, for his part in the terrorist plot.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chand, Steven Vikash 2006 Ontario terrorism plot Living people People convicted on terrorism charges Converts to Islam from Hinduism Canadian Muslims Canadian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Canada People imprisoned on charges of terrorism Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian people of Indian descent