The UK’s Metropolitan Police has appealed to people for information to trace the last movements of Gurashman Singh Bhatia, a missing Indian student whose body was found by police divers in a lake in the Canary Wharf area of east London. The Met Police said the 23-year-old had been reported missing after a night out with friends last Thursday, December 14. Police said that Bhatia was last seen on CCTV in the South Quay area at around 04:20 hours on Friday, December 15 and was reported missing at 17:48 hours.
The police divers found his body on the afternoon of Wednesday, December 20, the police statement said. “Although formal identification has not yet taken place, Gurashman’s family has been informed. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time,” the statement further read.
#APPEAL | We are appealing for information after a body, believed to be that of a missing man, was found in Canary Wharf.
Gurashman Singh Bhatia was reported missing after a night out with friends last Thursday.
Our thoughts are with his family. https://t.co/ZhXhaA3Prn
— Tower Hamlets Police (@MPSTowerHam) December 20, 2023
It added that officers went on to carry out “extensive enquiries”, including viewing CCTV, speaking to witnesses and analysing phone and financial data. Water searches were also carried out in the area and a body believed to be that of Bhatia was recovered by police divers in the water in South Quay, the police said.
Bhatia was pursuing an MSc in Digital Finance at Loughborough University. After he went missing last week, his case was also flagged with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar by BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, news agency PTI reported.
“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,” said Detective Chief Superintendent (DCI) James Conway.
“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,” he added.
DCI Conway added that this was an “extremely tragic outcome” to their missing persons inquiry and not the news he was hoping to give to Gurashman’s family and friends. “I send them my deepest condolences,” he said.
Police have asked anyone with the information to call 101 quoting the reference CAD5787/15Dec.
