Police say a 24-year-old international student who was delivering food in Mississauga earlier this month was lured by suspects to the site where he was violently attacked in a deadly carjacking.
In an update Friday, Insp. Phil King of Peel Regional Police’s Homicide Bureau said Gurvinder Nath was called to an address on Emerson Lane, near Britannia and Creditview roads, at around 2:10 a.m. on July 9 for a pizza delivery.
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“Investigators do believe that there are multiple suspects involved and that the food order was placed as a means of luring the driver to this specific area,” King said, adding that investigators have obtained an audio recording of the Pizza Pizza order placed before the attack.
After Nath arrived, he was “violently assaulted” and left critically injured by a suspect who robbed him of his vehicle and fled the scene, police said. Multiple witnesses came to his aid and called for help before Nath was rushed to a trauma centre where he was pronounced dead on July 14.
King said despite the infancy of the investigation, police believe Nath was an innocent victim.
Nath’s vehicle was found abandoned in the hours following the attack in the area of Old Creditview and Old Derry roads -- less than five kilometres from the crime scene, King said.
“The working theory is that perhaps there may have been extensive injuries [to Nath] that may not have been anticipated and that may have caused [the suspects] to get rid of the vehicle early,” he said.
The vehicle has since been forensically examined and “several” pieces of evidence have been retrieved, King added.
It’s unclear if a weapon was used in the attack, but King said investigators can’t exclude that as a possibility.
A suspect vehicle has been identified by police in connection with the incident as a white 2012 to 2017 Hyundai Accent Sedan with an after-market flashing blue light seen in the windshield.
King said that vehicle was observed “multiple” times in the area prior to the robbery. As well, a male suspect, wearing dark clothing, was seen exiting the vehicle and walking towards the area where this incident took place.
Police say there is no known connection between Nath and his attackers.
“I would like to remind those involved that regardless of your level of participation, you are complicit in the murder of Gurvinder Nath and you will be arrested and charged accordingly,” King said.
As police continue to search for the suspects involved, King said a recording of the food delivery call may be released to the public in the future.
Asked if the vehicle Nath was driving was significant to the investigation, King said it was not.
“This was more of an opportunity that presented itself. And the vehicle that the driver had wasn’t significantly at play. It could have been any type of vehicle,” he said.
Earlier this week, CTV News Toronto spoke to family and friends of Nath, who said the Brampton resident was on summer break before he returned to his final semester of business school.
“He was innocent, he was just delivering pizza [when] random people hit him on his head,” Nath’s cousin, Balram Krishan, said.
- READ MORE: Family, friends mourn loss of food delivery driver who died in violent carjacking in Mississauga
Nath arrived in Canada from India in July of 2021 and had plans to open his own business.
A candlelight vigil in Nath's memory is set to take place on Saturday night in Mississauga. A GoFundMe campaign has also been established to raise money to send his body back to India and cover funeral expenses.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact them at 905-453-3311 ext. 3410.
