Cheema deportation overturned, document reveals

Narinder Pal Cheema, the husband of slain school principal Shemina Hirji, was ordered deported from Canada after he was released from prison in 1996, but the order was suspended by the Immigration and Refugee Appeal Board the following year, according to a document obtained by CBC News.

Shemina Hirji married Narinder Pal Cheema five days before she was found dead in their Burnaby, B.C., home on July 5.
(CBC)

Cheema, also known as Paul Cheema, was released on parole after serving 16 months of a 42-month prison term for threatening and kidnapping his former fiancée and threatening her family. Upon his release in November 1996, Cheema was ordered deported to Britain.

But an Immigration and Refugee Board appeal division document obtained by the CBC shows Cheema appealed the deportation order and in October 1997 a judge ruled that because Cheema's family was in Canada, he had letters of support from several members of the community, he was seeking counselling, and he had steady employment, he should be allowed to stay in Canada.

The deportation order was suspended for three years. After he kept a clean record, the deportation record was dismissed in 2000.

Cheema married Hirji on July 1. Five days later, she was slain in their Burnaby, B.C., home. Cheema told police that three men killed her in a home invasion.

RCMP said Monday that the only suspect in the case was arrested on the weekend and released on Sunday without being charged.

Police aren't releasing the identity of the suspect because no charges were laid, but CBC News has learned that Cheema was arrested Saturday and released the next day.

U.K. immigrant

The Immigration Appeal Board document says Cheema was born in Birmingham, England, in 1971 and was sponsored by his brother to immigrate to Canada in 1991.

Cheema worked in the insurance industry until 1995, when he was sentenced to 3½ years for threatening and kidnapping his fiancée, Parmjit Singh.

According to the document, Cheema's cousin arranged the marriage to Singh, who lived in Winnipeg, but in 1994, Cheema broke off the engagement and her family reacted with hostility. Singh then told Cheema that she was pregnant with his child.

In December 1994, the document says, Cheema, who lived in Surrey, B.C., travelled to Winnipeg to see Singh. On December 19, he was arrested and charged with kidnapping Singh and threatening her and her family.

Cheema was released on bail, but in February 1995, he returned to Winnipeg with a pellet gun and threatened to kill Singh's mother outside the family home, the document says.

He then returned to his hotel room and attempted suicide. Cheema was revived and further charges were laid. He was later found guilty of one count of forcible confinement and two counts of uttering threats, and in November 1995, he was sentenced and sent prison.

Earlier this week, CBC news reported Cheema's National Parole Board documents, dated November 1996, paint a picture of a violent man who was "prone toward spouse abuse and explosive outbursts" if not counselled.

To date, no one has been charged in the death of Shemina Hirji.