Rakesh Rama says he last saw his roommate, Sridhar Nidammanuri, at 8 p.m. on April 21.

It was a Friday evening. Rama was headed to Toronto and the last words he heard from his 26-year-old roommate were "come back soon," he recalled.

The following Monday, Rama said he received a call from Nidammanuri's boss saying he hadn't shown up at work, and couldn't reach him. This was unusual behaviour for his roommate, said Rama.

"He's a hard worker. He's a good friend of mine, as well as a good roommate," said Rama. "We don't know what happened exactly — what went wrong on that day. We are all worried about Sridhar."

Rama said Nidammanuri's personal belongings were left in his apartment, including his wallet, phone and even his shoes.

Montreal police set up a command post downtown on Wednesday afternoon with hopes of gathering some information about the missing man.

At the same time, a community demonstration was held near Concordia University as organizers work to raise awareness about the disappearance of Nidammanuri.

He was last seen on April 21 at around 11:30 p.m. near the intersection of de Maisonneuve Boulevard and Guy Street in the Ville-Marie borough.

Nidammanuri speaks English and stands five feet, eight inches tall. He is described as weighing about 175 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

He was last seen wearing a red sweater with white stripes and short sleeves and grey shorts.

He could be getting around on foot and frequents the Ville-Marie sector, police say.

The Telugu Association of Montreal was among some of the organizations that supported the walk on Wednesday. It started with a gathering at Norman Bethune Square.

"His family in India is devastated, and despite ongoing police investigations, there is still no information about Sridhar's whereabouts," the organization said in a news release.

Sourav Tiwari was roommates with Nidammanuri for about three years. He stopped by the apartment on the evening of April 21.

"He was fine at that time," said Tiwari. "It had been a long time since I saw him, so he was happy."

Besides visiting the command post, anyone with information can dial 911 or confidentially contact Info-Crime Montréal by calling: 514-393-1133 or through the website.