Brampton man charged with attempted murder in Elnaz Hajtamiri case
CBC
A Brampton man is facing a host of charges including attempted murder in connection with an alleged attack on missing woman Elnaz Hajtamiri in late 2021, York Regional Police said.
Hajtamiri remains missing after she was abducted from a Wasaga Beach home by three men wearing police uniforms on the evening of Jan. 12, 2022.
In a news release issued Tuesday morning, police said 24-year-old Harshdeep Binner has been arrested and charged with attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, and mischief over $5,000. Binner had been wanted on a Canada-wide warrant since April.
The charges stem from an incident in Richmond Hill in December of 2021, before Hajtamiri was abducted. Investigators say officers were called to an address on King William Crescent, in the area of Yonge Street and Bantry Avenue, after Hajtamiri was attacked by two men and struck with a frying pan in an underground parking garage.
A concerned citizen interrupted the attack, police say, and the men took off in a vehicle.
Hajtamiri was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Investigators determined the vehicle the accused used in the attack had been stolen from the area of Finch Avenue and Don Mills Road in Toronto. It was later recovered.
Binner is the third man to be charged in connection with the parking garage attack. Riyasat Singh, also from Brampton, was arrested on the same charges in April.
Mohamad Lilo of Brossard, Que. also faces charges of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping in connection with the December incident.
Lilo has also been charged with kidnapping in connection with Hajtamiri's abduction.
Hajtamiri, who was born in Iran, came to Canada in 2018 and found work in the import-export shipping industry, according to a news release from the family, but she had recently left her job to focus on building a cake-making business.
She has yet to be located.
In the news release, York police said its investigators "continue to work closely" with Ontario Provincial Police on that force's investigation into Hajtamiri's disappearance.
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