RCMP to close down part of highway to look for Manmeet Bhullar’s belongings

BLACKFALDS, Alta. – A special tactical operations team of the RCMP will be searching the median of Alberta’s main highway Saturday, looking for personal effects belonging to a provincial politician who died in a car crash last November.

Mounties say the search is not related in any way to the investigation of the collision that killed Calgary-Greenway Tory MLA Manmeet Bhullar.

Bhullar, 35, died on Nov. 23, 2015, when he pulled over on the busy four-lane divided highway to help a stranded motorist.

It was a wintry day with icy road conditions, and a semi-truck lost control and hit a parked vehicle that then continued into the median and struck Bhullar, who was taken to hospital but later died of his injuries.

In a news release issued Friday, the RCMP said it consulted with Alberta Transportation in launching the search for Bhullar’s personal effects.

Mounties say that between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., they will be shutting down one lane each of the northbound and southbound portions of the Queen Elizabeth II Highway near Blackfalds, Alta.

They issued a plea for motorists to be cautious of members working on foot in the area.

A byelection to fill Bhullar’s seat will be held next Tuesday.

The candidates are Devinder Toor for the Wildrose party; Khalil Karbani for the Liberals; Roop Rai for the NDP; Thana Boonlert for the Greens; and Prab Gill for the Tories.