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The UBC president's residence, Norman MacKenzie House, is shown in a handout photo.

RCMP have concluded there is no threat to the president of the University of British Columbia or his family from the "suspicious" death of a man found on the grounds of the academic leader's residence earlier this week.

As a result, the police are not calling for stepped-up security after Thursday's gruesome discovery by a maintenance worker at the property on the West Side campus of UBC.

Corporal Brenda Winpenny said campus police have not found anything to suggest a threat to Arvind Gupta, who lives with his family at Norman Mackenzie House on a cliff above Wreck Beach along Burrard Inlet.

"Given the nature of this situation, the security of the president's residence isn't in question. There is nothing concerning this incident that would cause concern for the safety and welfare of the president or his family," Cpl. Winpenny said in an interview on Friday.

Cpl. Winpenny, a member of the RCMP's UBC detachment, said there is no indication that the man, in his 50s to 60s, was on the property to cause any harm.

Cpl. Winpenny, who declined to speculate on whether the man was homeless, said the incident is a first of its kind she can recall at the 65-year-old residence.

The house was built in 1950 for Norman Mackenzie, then president of UBC. Since then, it has been used as both the residence of the university president and offices, according to the UBC website. The building was renovated in 1983.

Just after noon on Thursday, UBC's RCMP detachment responded to a call from a maintenance worker who found the dead man at Mr. Gupta's home.

Mr. Gupta, his wife Michelle Pereira and their two university-age daughters live in the president's campus residence.

Mr. Gupta was in China on business when the body was found, but his two daughters were inside and interviewed by police. Sergeant Drew Grainger said in an interview that the women said they did not see the man.

The RCMP classed the situation as "suspicious in nature" as a reflection of continued questions about the matter, Cpl. Winpenny said. She said police are awaiting further information from the coroner such as a cause of death to help them figure out where to go next with their investigation.

On Thursday, major crime investigators, forensic experts, a canine unit and police helicopter all came to the scene as the investigation began. However, it has now been cleared.

Sgt. Grainger said some aspects of the situation are not surprising.

"It's strange for the fact that it's on the president's property, but you have to understand that the president's property is adjacent to a public park which is known for many homeless people and is known for a lot of transient activity," he said, noting a landslide last fall buried and killed a homeless man camping in the area.

A UBC spokesperson said the file is being handled by the RCMP and they had no comment on the situation.

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