Suspected gunman in Mississauga gas station murder among 25 most-wanted fugitives in Canada

A man hunted by police for more than a year in connection with the murder of a young woman who was gunned down as she worked the night shift at a Mississauga gas station is now among Canada’s 25 most-wanted fugitives.

Dharam Singh Dhaliwal, 31, wanted on a Canada-wide first-degree murder warrant since shortly after the Dec. 3, 2022 shooting in which Pawanpreet Kaur, 21, of Brampton, was killed while working inside the kiosk at a Britannia and Creditview roads Petro-Canada, appears at No. 9 on the list.

A $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest is being offered and he’s considered to possibly be “armed and dangerous,” police said.

The most-recent Canada’s Top 25 Most Wanted list was made public Tuesday morning at Toronto Police headquarters. It’s compiled periodically by the BOLO Program, which takes its name from a popular police term, “be on the lookout,” and seeks to “leverage social media, technology and innovative engagement to encourage citizens…to be on the lookout for Canada’s most wanted.”

In addition to making public the country’s most-wanted fugitives, police and BOLO officials also announced they’re making more reward cash available than ever before — $1 million in total — for tips leading to arrests. Other incentives to attract and keep the public’s interest in the ongoing cash-for-tips initiative were also introduced.

BOLO was developed in partnership with police forces across Canada and Crime Stoppers programs.

Kaur was shot multiple times just after 10:30 p.m. on the early December 2022 night as she worked at the gas station on the northeast corner of the busy north Mississauga intersection.

Pawanpreet Kaur, 21, of Brampton, was shot and killed while working at a gas station.

It was the 13th murder in Mississauga that year, and the 27th in Peel, and it sent shockwaves through a community that had already seen much gun violence in the previous months.

A customer found the Brampton woman suffering from gunshot wounds and called 911. Emergency crews arrived on the scene and attempted life-saving measures, but Kaur died of her injuries.

Peel Regional Police said earlier Dhaliwal had been on the run and missing since September 2022, a couple of months before the murder. Investigators allege his disappearance was intentional and part of a larger plan to murder Kaur.

“The murder of Pawanpreet Kaur forever changed her family’s life and significantly affected our community,” Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said in a news release issued Tuesday, adding police are “asking for the public’s assistance with information on Dharam Dhaliwal as her family deserves answers and justice for this tragedy.”

Dharam Dhaliwal, far right, as he appears on part of Canada’s Top 25 Most Wanted list. (Photo: BOLO)

Police have said the suspect in the slaying “wore a three-quarter-length dark winter jacket with a hood, dark winter boots, dark pants, a dark winter toque and white gloves.”

Furthermore, it appeared to investigators the man who pulled the trigger was smoking a cigarette at the time and he “did not pull the hood up over his head until shortly before shooting the victim at close range.”

In early 2023, police said two of Dhaliwal’s family members were arrested in Moncton in connection with the murder. Pritpal Dhaliwal, 25, and Amarjit Dhaliwal, 50, were arrested on April 18, 2023 and charged with one count each of accessory to murder after the fact.

Anyone with information about the shooting or Dhaliwal’s whereabouts is urged to call police at 905-453-2121, ext. 3205, or Peel Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.