By KIM BOLAN , VANCOUVER SUN

VANCOUVER - Vancouver’s latest homicide victim was a trucker just paroled after a conviction for plotting to kill a witness in the murder of publisher Tara Singh Hayer.

Rajinder Singh Soomel, 35, was living in a Vancouver halfway house when he was gunned down in the middle of Cambie Street at 10:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Soomel’s younger brother Robbie was convicted in a gangland slaying in 2004 and is serving a life sentence. During his murder trial, Robbie was implicated by a co-accused in the assassination of Hayer, even though he has never been charged.

The elder Soomel later plotted against that witness — Hardip Singh Uppal — telling an undercover police officer that he wanted to kill the “rat” who helped convict his brother in one murder and implicated him in others.

In March 2008, Raj Soomel pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Uppal and was handed a four-year sentence. He was eligible for day parole last July 28.

When Surrey Provincial Court Judge Peder Gulbransen sentenced Raj Soomel last year, he said the trucker made a “cold, deliberate calculated decision to have someone killed.”

Vancouver police are now saying that someone made the same decision to kill Soomel — the city’s 18th homicide victim of 2009.

Many who know the family said they were preparing the funeral service for their eldest son.

Soomel lay for hours in the middle of Cambie just south of 19th, a white tarp over his large frame, his jean-covered legs sticking out, his running shoes visible. At one point, the tarp blew back revealing a dark complexion, thick hair, sideburns and a white hoodie. It looked like he had been shot behind his left ear.

“Early indications are that this is a targeted shooting and that there may be gang links,” Const. Lindsey Houghton said.

He said the shooting in the busy Cambie Village could have been worse as patrons packed coffee bars, restaurants and the Park Theatre at the time of the shooting.

“This is a brazen incident. We are very, very fortunate no one else was injured,” Houghton said.

All day Wednesday, forensic teams combed the neighbourhood for clues. But no suspect descriptions were released.

Police would not confirm how many shots were fired. Witnesses told The Vancouver Sun they heard six to 10.

Both Raj and Robbie Soomel have a long list of enemies dating back years on Vancouver’s south slope, where they grew up. Robbie was involved in the drug trade and worked for some gangsters who went on to form the Independent Soldiers.

Raj was shot at the family home in September 2000 when gunmen opened fire. Vancouver police found several shell casings and an AK-47 assault rifle at the scene. No charges were ever laid, but a few days later, a suspect in the shooting, Gurpreet Singh Sohi, was gunned down in his Delta basement suite. Robbie Soomel and Gogi Mann were convicted.

According to Uppal, Robbie Soomel admitted that he and Daljit Singh (Umboo) Basran were promised $50,000 by the Babbar Khalsa terrorist group to kill Hayer, who was going to be a witness in the Air India bombing case when he was gunned down on Nov. 18, 1998.

As part of the continuing Hayer investigation, a special police task force trapped Raj Soomel in an elaborate sting by posing as underworld figures and inviting him to join their gang.

Raj Soomel agreed to become a full-time employee of the fake crime group, delivering tax-free booze and cigarettes to various locations for profit.

“During the undercover operation, the accused Raj Soomel expressed many times his hatred of rats and that Uppal was a ‘rat’ who double-crossed his brother and testified against him,” Crown counsel Dianne Widemann told Judge Gulbransen last year.

In the summer of 2007, Raj Soomel told one of the undercover cops that he intended to kill Uppal “down the road.”

“Every dog has his day, right?” Soomel said in a taped conversation.

On Aug. 8, in another meeting, Soomel indicated he wanted Uppal killed by making a throat-slitting motion to a man he believed was the crime boss.

“I mean, I just want to see it done, man,” Soomel said, adding that he wanted Uppal gunned down in the street “to send a message.”

On Aug. 21, 2007, Soomel agreed to pay $20,000 toward the hit. Eight days later, he provided the undercover operatives with two photos of Uppal, a photo of Uppal’s girlfriend and Uppal’s parents’ address and their names.

“He also confirmed now for the second time that he wanted Hardip Uppal killed on the street and made a machine gun shooting gesture with his hands and a gun-shooting noise to send a message,” the court was told.

Sol.-Gen. Kash Heed said Wednesday that police across Metro Vancouver are fighting hard against rampant gang violence, but the solutions are long-term and the violence won’t stop overnight.

“The money we are investing is going to pay off in the long run,” Heed said. “Let’s be quite frank. Some of these unfortunate incidents are going to continue to take place until we get well ahead of the problem.”

More police officers designated to gang and organized crime units, plus preventive education will help, said the former police officer.

“It does have to stop. I can tell you that law enforcement takes this very seriously. The provincial government takes this very seriously. We are investing more than we have ever invested before in dealing with this particular problem.”