Nachhattar Basra, Sikh-
Strip-searched, jailed overnight by mistake, even had to pay tow $95
VANCOUVER, March 22, 2004
Nachhattar Basra bears such a resemblance to a wanted man that he carries
a letter from Immigration Canada to prove who he is.
At least three times police have mistaken Basra for a shady character
with the same name, same general height and a
Canada-wide immigration arrest warrant.
But Basra's letter didn't save him from being jailed overnight after
he was arrested last Sunday by a Vancouver police
officer who Basra says refused to listen. "I had the letter in
my car. I was telling her it's happened before ... that I
received a letter from the immigration department ... but she didn't
listen to anything," said Basra.
The 50-year-old City of Vancouver building services employee, known
to colleagues as Nick, was en route to his
regular night shift at a downtown civic building when he was pulled
over.
Vancouver police spokesperson Anne Drennan said the officer ran the
licence plate through the computer system and
a warrant popped up.
Basra protested he was not the suspect, Drennan confirmed. "But
we have a lot of people who say that," she said. "We have
to check it out."
Drennan said Basra didn't produce the letter, and there was no notation
on the system alerting police to the dual
identities. A check with immigration officials confirmed the warrant
was still valid and again, no mention of an identity mix-up
was made. So the officer, in good faith, took Basra to jail, Drennan
said.
Basra was admitted as a longer-term detainee and subjected to a strip
search, said B.C. Corrections spokesperson
Wayne Willows.
Strip searches for temporary police holds at the Vancouver jail were
banned earlier this year after a court ruling
declared them unconstitutional.
However, for security reasons, suspects arrested on detention warrants
are still strip-searched because they're
admitted to the general prison population, he said.
A devout Sikh, Basra was forced to remove his turban, part his hair
and strip naked to prove he was carrying no
weapons or contraband. "It was too much for me ... the humiliation,"
said Basra, who'd never in his life been handcuffed, let alone jailed.
He was released the next morning without an apology, then had to pay
$95 to get his car from a towing lot.
Immigration Canada spokesperson Nancy Bray said the department is
aware of Basra's ordeal.
"We are very sorry for his experience. And the director of enforcement
has spoken to him to indicate our regret and
we are going to do our best to make sure this doesn't happen to Mr.
Basra in the future," she said.