4 min readChandigarhJun 12, 2026 07:00 PM IST
First published on: Jun 12, 2026 at 07:00 PM IST
An Indian-origin man who spent nearly three years on the run after a brutal 2021 assault on Ontario resident Elnaz Hajtamiri has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and is expected to be deported to India within days.
Sukhpreet Singh, 26, entered the plea in a Newmarket courtroom on Wednesday, admitting his role in the December 20, 2021, attack on Hajtamiri in an underground parking garage in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The assault left her with a severe head wound that required about 40 stitches.
As part of a plea agreement, Singh was credited with approximately 18 months of time served and was sentenced accordingly. He is now in the custody of the Canada Border Services Agency pending deportation.
The case has attracted widespread attention in Canada because Hajtamiri disappeared less than a month after the assault and is now presumed dead.
According to investigators, Singh was part of an organised crime group hired to follow and attack Hajtamiri. Police said the assault was a failed kidnapping attempt that was interrupted by a passerby. Two other men, Harshdeep Binner and Riyasat Singh, were also implicated in the attack. Investigators said the assailants used a frying pan as a weapon, while Riyasat Singh was instructed to record the assault on his mobile phone.
Hajtamiri, then 37, suffered a deep gash to her forehead and was hospitalised. Fearing for her safety, she later went into hiding in Wasaga Beach.
On January 12, 2022, three masked men posing as police officers allegedly abducted Hajtamiri from the residence where she was staying. She has not been seen or heard from since.
Court proceedings revealed that Sukhpreet Singh arrived in Ontario from India in 2020 to study business marketing at Sheridan College. Prosecutors said his education plans were disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic and that he later became involved in criminal activity.
A Canada-wide warrant was issued for his arrest in 2023. He was eventually arrested by US authorities in San Antonio, Texas, in August 2025 and extradited to Ontario the following month. He had been facing charges of aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.
York Regional Police have made about a dozen arrests in the wider investigation. Charges against several accused were later stayed or withdrawn after some individuals cooperated with investigators.
A central figure in the case is Hajtamiri’s former boyfriend, Mohamad Lilo, who prosecutors alleged had links to an organised crime network involved in vehicle theft and overseas smuggling operations.
Last month, Lilo avoided a first-degree murder trial after pleading guilty to conspiracy to kidnap Hajtamiri. He was sentenced to four additional years in prison under a joint sentencing submission. Prosecutors alleged that he helped others target Hajtamiri after she ended their relationship.
Canadian media reports said evidence provided by Sukhpreet Singh played a role in securing the plea deal that led to the withdrawal of the murder charge against Lilo.
The case has become one of Ontario’s most high-profile missing-person investigations and has highlighted concerns about organised crime networks involved in vehicle theft, international smuggling and cross-border criminal operations.
Despite multiple arrests and convictions, no one has been charged with Hajtamiri’s murder. Her family continues to seek answers more than four years after her disappearance.
A Punjabi youth, Sukhpreet Singh, faces imminent deportation to India after pleading guilty to a brutal 2021 parking garage assault on Elnaz Hajtamiri (right). 
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