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CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Crown stays charges against man accused in 2021 frying pan attack on Elnaz Hajtamiri
Harshpreet Sekhon is shown on the left and Elnaz Hajtamiri is shown on the right. Sekhon is facing charges in connection with a Dec. 2021 assault on Hajtamiri, which predated her disappearance. A Mono, Ont. man, accused of being involved in the assault of a woman during a failed abduction in Richmond Hill in late 2021, had his criminal charges stayed by the Crown. Harshpreet Sekhon, 27, was accused of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and aggravated assault in the attack on Elnaz Hajtamiri, who weeks later was kidnapped from a home in Wasaga Beach by three men who police say posed as officers with a warrant for her arrest. The Crown announced the staying of charges on what supposed to be the start of a preliminary hearing for Sekhon in a Newmarket courtroom Monday morning. Sekhon is one of seven men charged in the attack on Elnaz Hajtamiri in her underground parking garage December 20, 2021, when investigators said she was hit in the head with a frying pan and taken to hospital. Elnaz Hajtamiri Elnaz Hajtamiri suffered a head wound requiring roughly 40 stitches after an assault in a parking garage in Richmond Hill, Ont., on Dec. 20, 2021 (Supplied) Sekhon was arrested two and a half years ago and has been out on bail since. He, along with several others, had been accused of playing a role in the attack on Hajtamiri, whose ex-boyfriend, Mohamad Lilo, was convicted of aggravated assault for orchestrating the attack weeks prior to her kidnapping in Wasaga Beach. Hajtamiri had gone into hiding with loved ones at the request of police in York Region. She was left bloodied in the frying pan attack that was an apparent kidnapping attempt thwarted by a passerby, according to investigators. Loved ones claimed her car was found to have tracking devices on it. Lilo was found guilty by a Barrie jury in June of hiring several men to follow, hurt and kidnap Hajtamiri who has not been seen or heard from by family since her abduction January 12, 2022. Elnaz Hajtamiri and suspects Top: (Far L) Elnaz Hajtamiri, (L) Mohamad Lilo, (R) Harshdeep Binner, (Far R) Riyasat Singh Bottom: (Far L) Harshpreet Sekhon, (L) Akash Rana, (R) Sukhpreet Singh (Far R) Jaspreet Singh Harshdeep Binner, the man who hit Hajtamiri with the frying pan, pleaded guilty in June to assault with a weapon. His co-accused, Riyasat Singh, who recorded the attack on his phone, pleaded guilty in late 2022 and was deported. Two others, Jaspreet Singh and Akash Rana, had their charges stayed by the Crown this year. Rana testified as a Crown witness during Lilo's trial last month, telling the jury he stole the car used by Binner and Singh when they assaulted Hajtamiri and fled the scene. Another co-accused, Sukhpreet Singh, who was on the run wanted on a Canada-Wide warrant since 2023, was arrested last month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in San Antonio, Texas. Sekhon appeared at the Newmarket courthouse in April during Binner's proceedings that resulted in a mistrial. He covered his face before saluting the camera on his way home. The staying of charges means all preliminary hearing dates previously scheduled have been vacated by the court, giving the Crown one year to resume its prosecution of Sekhon should it be willing to do so.
CTV News
14-07-2025
- CTV News
Crown stays charges against man accused in 2021 parking garage attack on Elnaz Hajtamiri
A Delta, B.C. man charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence had his charged stayed by the Crown in a Newmarket courtroom Friday. The decision to halt the prosecution came a few weeks after Akash Rana, 27, testified as a Crown witness against Mohamad Lilo, who was convicted in the aggravated assault of his former girlfriend Elnaz Hajtamiri who is missing and presumed dead. Rana testified about his role as one of a handful of men hired in a plot to track down, harm and kidnap Hajtamiri, who was abducted three weeks later from a home where she had gone into hiding with loved ones in Wasaga Beach. Rana was one of at least seven men charged in connection with the parking garage assault and failed abduction attempt on Hajtamiri December 20, 2021, in Richmond Hill, Ont. that involved the use of a frying pan on her. Elnaz Hajtamiri Elnaz Hajtamiri suffered a head wound requiring roughly 40 stitches after an assault in a parking garage in Richmond Hill, Ont., on Dec. 20, 2021 (Supplied) Police believe Lilo, who was dumped by Hajtamiri months earlier, orchestrated and is the common link between the parking garage attack on Hajtamiri and her eventual kidnapping January 12, 2022, in Wasaga Beach. Lilo was convicted of aggravated assault by a Barrie jury following a six-week trial. Hajtamiri's two attackers that day, Riyasat Singh, and Harshdeep Binner, took plea deals. Singh was deported in late 2022 and Binner was released from jail last month after two years in custody. Binner admitted to assaulting Hajtamiri with the frying pan while Singh recorded the attack on his phone before they were scared off by a passerby. The court heard Binner and Singh waited for Hajtamiri in her parking garage that day, attacked her and fled the scene in a black Mazda stolen for them by Rana who was arrested in March 2023 and later granted bail. Akash Rana Akash Rana, 27, enters the Barrie, Ont., courthouse in June 2025. (CTV News/Mike Arsalides) Another man accused in the attack, Sukhpreet Singh, was on the run for two years on a Canada-wide warrant until he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Antonio, Texas last month. Hajtamiri's family says her vehicle was found to have tracking devices on it. Lilo, whom police say owned a shipping container business, remains in jail following his conviction awaiting sentencing in October and a separate trial for Hajtamiri's murder in May 2026. A staying of charges against Rana means the Crown has up to one year to resume its prosecution. Another man charged in the case, Harshpreet Sekhon, is scheduled to return to a Newmarket courtroom next week. The allegations against the accused have not been tested in court.
CTV News
03-07-2025
- CTV News
Murder trial for ex-boyfriend in Elnaz Hajtamiri Wasaga Beach abduction begins in May
The Montreal-area man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend, who is missing and presumed dead, is heading to trial in the spring. Mohamad Lilo, 38, has been behind bars for three years accused of first-degree murder in the kidnapping and homicide of Elnaz Hajtamiri. Justice Michelle Fuerst confirmed to Lilo and lawyers in attendance during the virtual court appearance, the trial is expected to run for eight weeks beginning in mid-May in Barrie. Hajtamiri has not been seen or heard from since the night of January 12, 2022 when loved ones told police she was forcibly taken from a Wasaga Beach by three men posing as police officers with a bogus warrant for her arrest. Police revealed Hajtamiri was dragged barefoot through the snow and loaded into a stolen Lexus SUV. Police believe Lilo orchestrated the kidnapping of Hajtamiri after she broke up with him and would not take him back. Over the course of a five-week aggravated assault jury trial that began in May, following severance of his charges, the Crown revealed Lilo hired several men to watch and abduct Hajtamiri. Elnaz Hajtamiri Elnaz Hajtamiri suffered a head wound requiring roughly 40 stitches after an assault in a parking garage in Richmond Hill, Ont., on Dec. 20, 2021 (Supplied) An attempt to kidnap Hajtamiri occurred December 20, 2021 in her underground parking garage when two men waited for and tried to take her while recording the attack. The plan to grab Hajtamiri, after she was hit repeatedly with a frying pan, was thwarted by a passerby. The attack sent Hajtamiri to hospital with a wound to her head and ultimately forced Hajtamiri into hiding with loved ones in Wasaga Beach at the request of York Regional police. Three weeks later, she was gone. The jury found Lilo guilty of aggravated assault last month. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for late October. Following the conviction, Harshdeep Binner pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon, in a Newmarket courtroom for hitting Hajtamiri with the frying pan. His co-accused Riyasat Singh, whom the court heard recorded the abduction attempt, pleaded guilty following his arrest in 2022 and was deported according to police. During Binner's plea, the court heard through an Agreed Statement of Facts read by the Crown, Lilo tracked Hajtamiri using GPS and private investigators and hired people to assault her. Lilo, who is represented by defence lawyers Anthony Bryant and Stephanie Marcade, has been denied bail twice. The allegations against Lilo have not been tested in court.
CTV News
20-06-2025
- CTV News
Lilo convicted of orchestrating attack and attempted kidnapping of Ontario woman Elnaz Hajtamiri
A jury has found Mohamad Lilo guilty of aggravated assault in the December 2021 frying pan attack on his former girlfriend Elnaz Hajtamiri. Hajtamiri has been missing now for 1255 days and is presumed dead after police say she was kidnapped from a Wasaga Beach, Ont. home where she'd gone into hiding with loved ones fearing for her safety following the frying pan assault. This week a Barrie jury convicted Lilo of orchestrating the vicious attack on his former girlfriend in her Richmond Hill parking garage during a failed abduction attempt- and ultimately her kidnapping on the night of January 12, 2022. The court heard Lilo was obsessed with Hajtamiri and wouldn't leave her alone, eventually having her followed by several men paid to kidnap her. Elnaz Hajtamiri Elnaz Hajtamiri suffered a head wound requiring roughly 40 stitches after an assault in a parking garage in Richmond Hill, Ont., on Dec. 20, 2021 (Supplied) Over the course of the five-week trial the court heard Lilo hired Riyasat Singh, who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in late 2022, and Harshdeep Binner, who pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon in the frying pan attack that sent Hajtamiri to hospital, following a mistrial in March. During Binner's plea, the court heard the Agreed Statement of Facts read by the Crown, who said Lilo tracked Hajtamiri using GPS and private investigators and hired people to assault her, including Binner, who admitted to striking Hajtamiri with a frying pan after lying in wait for hours. Hajtamiri assault suspects Jaspreet Singh, 24, of Delta, B.C. (L) and Sukhpreet Singh, 23, of Mississauga, Ont. (R) are wanted on Canada-wide warrants for their alleged involvement in the Elnaz Hajtamiri assault case. (YRP) The Crown said Binner spotted Hajtamiri and ripped her from her car hitting her repeatedly in the head while Singh recorded the assault on his phone. Binner and Singh then took off when a passerby intervened. The court heard the duo left behind DNA on several items, including a black balaclava and on the stolen car they tried to torch following the attack. Binner was later picked up in Edmonton and charged with stealing Ford F-150 pickup trucks while police had a Canada-wide warrant out for his arrest. He was sentenced to time served to be released from jail in Lindsay this week after spending two and a half years behind bars. He came to Canada on a student VISA, according to his lawyer Uma Kancharla. Lilo, has been in custody for three years and been denied bail twice. He is scheduled to return to court next week. The remaining allegations against him have not been tested in court.
