The next morning, he heard his friend was dead.
"I was just shocked. I just passed the phone over."
Surinder Singh said Dhaliwal had been friendly, smart, hard-working, spiritual and open-minded. "He was a good student. He wanted to know more about other cultures."
Last night police were still treating the death as unexplained and were reviewing CCTV footage.
Detective Sergeant Eugene Pickett, who is leading the investigation, said he understood Dhaliwal had been working alone.
Pickett confirmed the area had long been targeted by thieves. He said: "The commercial area right through Lincoln Rd has been a special target for some local thieves. [Fulton Hogan] may have had some issues around that."
Dhaliwal's family in India had been notified and were trying to arrange bringing the body home.
Another flatmate, Amandeep Singh, said a post-mortem examination was ongoing. "We haven't seen the body. One of our friends identified the body.
"We're still waiting. They're going to finish the tests on Monday, in the evening. The family are really sad now and they are asking for the body," he said.
Flatmate Surinder Singh said they had been told it would take six or seven days to send Dhaliwal's body to India.
He said flying his friend's body home is expected to cost at least $8000.
"It's really hard for them. It's just his mother and his big brother. His father has already passed away."
Dhaliwal's friends said they hope CNE helped with the costs of sending the body to Sangrur.
"If they can arrange for some money to send his body back to India, that would be really good for us."
- additional reporting Chloe Johnson
