MISSISSAUGA – Was the Indo-Canadian man found dead in Mississauga murdered?
Following Harshal Desai’s death on February 16, friends of the 23-year-old Mississauga man who was found dead behind a popular nightclub are searching for answers about how he died.
Peel Regional Police’s Homicide Bureau continues to monitor the suspicious death of Harshal Desai, whose body was found Monday afternoon (Feb. 16) behind a strip plaza at the corner of Dixie Road and Aimco Boulevard, reported Mississauga News.
The area remained under police guard with yellow police tape until Tuesday. Police haven’t released the man’s name, but friends have identified him as Harshalkumar Desai, a Stephen Lewis Secondary School graduate who also attended Sheridan College.
Sgt. Matt Small said Thursday there was no new information to report. The force’s Homicide squad didn’t respond to questions about whether they have taken over the investigation.
The case is currently being handled by the 12 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau. But Peel Const. Fiona Thivierge said the force’s Homicide Bureau has been notified and detectives in the unit are monitoring the case, at least until an autopsy on the body is conducted to determine the cause of death and possibly, whether foul play was involved.
Thivierge said police responded to a call received on Monday afternoon for a man without vital signs located behind the plaza.
Desai was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the body was frozen and showed obvious signs of head trauma.
Police also said that no one had reported the deceased missing.
Desai worked as a cargo handler for FedEx Express and was an avid car lover, according to friends.
“We just want to know what happened to him,” said Andrea Gayle, who has known Desai for nearly five years. “He was opinionated yes, but he also knew how to make people laugh. Don’t know why anyone would want to hurt him.”
Friends and family members took to social media this week to mourn Desai.
There were reports Desai was at Sugar Daddy’s nightclub, which is located in the plaza, Sunday night and early Monday, prior to his body being found. Police haven’t confirmed that.
The plaza is home to a few nightclubs and restaurants, but Thivierge said officers are reviewing video surveillance to try to track the dead man’s last steps.
“It’s difficult to say (whether foul play was involved). There was some head trauma, but whether or not that came from falling or whether or not that came from someone else is impossible to know until the coroner conducts his autopsy,” Thivierge said Monday.
