"Gurashman’s death is being treated as unexpected"
Police have issued an appeal after an Indian student was found dead in Canary Wharf.
Gurashman Singh Bhatia was reported missing after a night out with friends on December 14, 2023.
Officers are now requesting assistance to help piece together the 23-year-old’s last known moments after a body was found.
Originally from the Punjab city of Jalandhar, Gurashman was studying in London.
He was spotted on CCTV in the South Quay area of Canary Wharf at around 4:20 am on December 15, 2023.
Gurashman was reported missing at 5:48 pm that day.
Officers carried out extensive enquiries, including viewing CCTV, speaking to witnesses and analysing phone and financial data.
Water searches were also carried out.
During the afternoon of December 20, police divers discovered the body of a man in the water.
Although formal identification has not yet taken place, Gurashman’s family has been informed.
Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway, responsible for local policing in Tower Hamlets, said:
“This is an extremely tragic outcome and is not the news we were hoping to give to Gurashman’s family and friends.
“I send them my deepest condolences.
“Gurashman’s death is being treated as unexpected, and while there is nothing to suggest it was suspicious, we will ensure our investigation is as thorough as possible to confirm this.
“Because of this, we are releasing a CCTV image of Gurashman that was taken before his disappearance and would like anyone who may have seen him in the Marsh Wall area on the evening of Thursday, 14 December and in the early hours of Friday, 15 December, to contact us.”
The discovery comes just over a fortnight after Indian student Mitkumar Patel‘s body had been found in the River Thames.
The 23-year-old had gone missing and police were alerted on November 18.
Reportedly, Mitkumar was scheduled to relocate to Sheffield on November 20 to commence a degree at Sheffield Hallam University.
Having only arrived from India in September, he had been residing with a cousin in Plaistow, East London.
He was found in the water on the morning of November 21 by a passer-by.
Mitkumar’s cousin, Parth Patel, revealed that in the days leading up to his death, Mitkumar had sent a series of voice messages to a relative.
These messages, discovered after his disappearance, reportedly outlined a plan to end his life.
Parth launched a GoFundMe page and in a statement, he said:
“Mitkumar Patel was [23-year-old] boy who came to the UK for higher studies on 19th September 2023.
“He belonged to a farmer family and used to live in a village as well.
“He was missing from 17th November 2023. Now on 21st November police found his dead body [in] Canary Wharf in the water.
“It was sad for all of us.
“So we decided to do fundraising [to help] out his family and to send his body to India as well.
“Everyone who wants to donate do not worry this fund is in safe hands and it will [go] to his family. Please we need help.”
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