Alleged knife-point carjacker skips court, flees to India ahead of preliminary hearing

Accused of a 2022 carjacking, Arshdeep Gill, 27, missed his court appearance Tuesday, November 4, 2025.

A man accused in the May 2022 knife-point carjacking of a 77-year-old woman in Innisfil failed to show up for his scheduled preliminary hearing in a Barrie, Ont. courtroom Tuesday.

Noticeably absent from the prisoner’s box was 27-year-old Arshdeep Gill, who stands charged with assault with a weapon, robbery and stealing the woman’s vehicle before evading police for two years.

CTV News has learned Gill appears to have fled the country after recently resolving charges in Hamilton and being released from custody. Tuesday was supposed to be the first of three scheduled days of the preliminary hearing for Gill and his co-accused Navjot Singh.

• Alleged car thieves accused of carjacking senior at knife-point back in custody

Gill had been behind bars since his arrest by Peel Regional Police in February 2024. He made his last Bradford court appearance in July. Gill is also facing a charge of failing to comply with conditions of his release order. It is believed Gill absconded and fled to India with no desire to return to Ontario to answer to the charges.

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His failure to come to court left Singh, 27, sitting by himself in the prisoner’s box charged with robbery, assault with a weapon, and stealing the woman’s vehicle. He was assisted by an interpreter and defence counsel as witnesses gave testimony for about seven hours.

The men are accused of stealing the woman’s car in parking lot along Innisfil Beach Road May 16, 2022, when investigators said a man pulled a knife on the woman, grabbed her car keys, and pushed the woman to the ground.

The court heard testimony from the woman police said suffered minor injuries in the carjacking.

Singh, who failed to attend court on several occasions, according to his former lawyer, was arrested in April and faced a total of 15 charges, including two counts of theft under $5,000. Court documents include another alleged incident in October 2024.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled to continue later this week. The allegations against the accused have not been tested in court.