Indian student spoke to brother 30 minutes before being shot dead in Canada: ‘Chirag Antil was very happy’

Indian student killed in Canada: Chirag Antil was shot dead in his car in Vancouver city on Friday around 11 pm.

Days after a 24-year-old Indian student Chirag Antil was shot dead in Canada's Vancouver, his brother Romit recalled their last conversation, saying that they spoke around 30 minutes before the incident took place. According to Romit, his brother was about to go out for a party with his friends. Chirag was shot dead in his car in Vancouver city on Friday around 11pm.

Indian student Chirag Antil had arrived in Canada in 2022. He had pursued an MBA course at the private University of Canada West and after completing it was on a work permit

“Chirag had completed his day’s work and reached home. He had parked his car behind the place where he was staying with his friends. It might be around 10.30 pm when he spoke with me…He sounded very happy. A few hours later, we received the information that he was shot dead,” Romit told The Indian Express.

Romit, who is pursuing his Ph.D. in Sonipat, said that after he received an email about his brother being shot, he made frantic calls to his friends and everyone they know in Vancouver. “Chirag’s flatmates told me that they heard some cracker-bursting sounds and thought that somebody might be bursting crackers. Later, when they started looking for Chirag, they found that he was not there. His other friend who visited them saw many police personnel around Chirag’s car and informed them about the incident. When they all rushed to the spot, they learned that Chirag was shot dead,” he said, as quoted by The Indian Express.

According to the victim's brother, no one from the state government or the central government has approached their family to help them bring Chirag's body back to India. He said while he has several phone calls to all the authorities that the Canadian police mentioned in the mail, no one has revealed any details so far.

“Our friends went to the neighbours to see if they could see CCTV camera footage, but nobody cooperated and they were shown the door,” he said.

The incident took place within a block of the route for Saturday’s Vaisakhi parade and festival. According to the police, no arrests have been made so far and the investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, Chirag's family and friends have set up a fundraiser on GoFundMe with a goal of Canadian dollars 40,000 to repatriate his body to India. “Chirag Antil, an international student from Haryana, India, who arrived in Vancouver in 2022 for his studies, tragically lost his life due to a recent murder in the city. We urgently need assistance to raise funds for sending his body back to India,” the appeal stated.