Two Indian nationals have been killed in separate incidents in Canada within two weeks. (File Photo)
Two Indian nationals have been killed in separate incidents in Canada within two weeks, according to statements from the Toronto Police and the Consulate General of India in Toronto. Police say the two cases are not connected, and investigations in both are going on.
The Toronto Police said Indian doctorate student Shivank Avasthi was killed in a shooting near the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, in the Highland Creek Trail and Old Kingston Road area.
Officers arrived after reports of a shooting and found the victim with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the suspects left the area before the law enforcement arrived, and the campus was placed under lockdown during the investigation.
Toronto Police said a 30-year-old Indian woman, Himanshi Khurana, was found dead inside a residence in the Strachan Avenue and Wellington Street West area last week.
Police said officers first responded to a missing person call on the night of December 19. The following morning, officers found the woman deceased inside a home, and the case was later declared a homicide.
Police said they suspected that the victim knew the suspect. A warrant for first-degree murder has been issued for 32-year-old Abdul Ghafoori, the Toronto Police Service said in a public statement.
Images released by police matched those appearing on a social media profile in her name, where she had described herself as a Toronto-based digital creator.
The Consulate General of India in Toronto said it is in contact with the student’s family and is providing assistance.
In a statement on X, the mission said it “expresses deep anguish over the tragic death of a young Indian doctoral student, Shivank Avasthi, in a fatal shooting incident near the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus.
News Release – Homicide Investigation, Highland Creek Trail and Old Kingston Road, Victim: Shivank Avasthi, 20, Image Releasedhttps://t.co/WdkKqp4pGe pic.twitter.com/XF6NAYJwgX
Toronto Police say the two deaths are being treated as separate cases.