Edmonton police said it is alleged international student Sahil Arora, 22, was behind the wheel of the car that hit and killed Paramjeet Sidhu on October 5, 2014. Arora is facing charges of hit and run causing death and dangerous driving causing death.
EDMONTON – Edmonton police said a lengthy investigation into a fatal hit and run on Rabbit Hill Road in 2014 had ended, with the arrest of an Indian student man in his 20s.
On Thursday, police said a 16 month investigation into the October 2014 crash that killed Paramjeet Sidhu, 46, had ended.
Police said it is alleged Sahil Arora, 22, was behind the wheel of the car that hit and killed Sidhu on October 5, 2014.
The lengthy investigation ended with Arora’s arrest last week, and police credit an observant witness, and persistent investigators. The accused was not in the country when police tracked him down.
“We were able to identify the vehicle thanks to a tip from the public, eventually locating the accused overseas, and he agreed to return to Canada to face the charges,” Sgt. Brad Harsch said in a news release.
Arora, an international student, is facing charges of hit and run causing death and dangerous driving causing death.
“We were able to identify the vehicle thanks to a tip from the public, eventually locating the accused overseas, and he agreed to return to Canada to face the charges,” he said.
A person reported to police a damaged car they saw on an Edmonton roadway.
That sighting eventually led Harsch to locating the car in a salvage yard nine months after the incident, he said.
The vehicle was brought to the yard just days after the collision and was being sold as parts.
Once he had the vehicle, the investigation finally led him to the person Harsch believed was the driver.
Arora had left Canada for India in September 2015, Harsch said.
“The deceased’s family has been living this nightmare for the last year and half,” he said.
“It’s a long time coming for her. She just wants answers. It is sad. They miss their dad.”
Victim Paramjeet Sidhu was crossing Rabbit Hill Road at Hodgson Boulevard around 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 5, 2014, when he was hit by what was thought at the time to be a late-model sedan. The car then left the scene.
Sidhu was taken to hospital, where he remained in a coma until he died on Oct. 23.
A trained physician, Sidhu moved to Canada in 2010.
His wife, Gurpreet Sidhu, described him as a loving husband and father to his two sons, aged five and 12 at the time of the collision. Three weeks after the hit-and-run, Sidhu’s wife pleaded publicly for the driver to come forward to police.
She said that the family never lost hope that the driver would be found.
“We were hopeful that one day that we would be able to find someone, and it went in the right direction,” said Sidhu. “At least, if people are punished for what they do to others lives that might be a lesson for other people.”
She said that it was good to have closure on the matter and are appreciative of the hard work that went into the investigation, but the pain from the loss of her husband remains.
“It’s not easy for a young kid to lose their dad,” said Sidhu, “their whole childhood is spoiled, it’s difficult to live each moment, each single day.
“It has been a painful journey that we will take for the rest of our lives,”
