Crown stays charges against man accused in 2021 frying pan attack on Elnaz Hajtamiri

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.

• Related | New arrest made in connection to violent assault on Ont. woman Elnaz Hajtamiri

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.

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.

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.

• Related | Crown stays charges against man accused in 2021 parking garage attack on Elnaz Hajtamiri

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.