Two men have been arrested and charged Dec. 20 in the death of Carleton student Tausif Chowdhury, according to a statement released by the Ottawa Police.
The Ottawa Police arrested 19-year-old John Ruch and 18-year-old Steven Kozielo, and charged them both with one count of manslaughter and one count of robbery, said the statement.
Chowdhury’s body was found in the morning of Nov. 27 by a cyclist who was travelling along the bike path behind South Keys Plaza on the side of Airport Parkway, said Ottawa Police spokesperson.
Ottawa Police are treating the case as a drug-and robbery-related manslaughter, according to the Ottawa Citizen. Chowdhury is believed to have been on the pathway to purchase marijuana from a drug dealer, the paper said.
The Citizen said police believe the attack and robbery was planned, but they do not believe the two men intended to kill Chowdhury.
Chowdhury was an international student studying engineering at Carleton, according to interviews with his friends in the Citizen.
“Carleton University is deeply saddened to learn of the death of Tausif Chowdhury,” reads an e-mailed statement from Chris Cline, Carleton’s media relations officer. “As the Ottawa Police Service is conducting an investigation into his death, Carleton cannot comment on the case.”
Friends described the international student as friendly and smart in interviews with the Citizen, and expressed disbelief that anyone would want to cause him harm.
“He was very generous, he was very kind, for something like this to happen to him, I would never think about it,” Sirajum Munir Mim, Chowdhury’s former roommate, told the Citizen. “He was friends with everyone. All colour, all races, all backgrounds. He’d be just hanging around with everyone.”
According to a statement released by police, Chowdhury’s family, who reside in Saudi Arabia, have been notified.
