Indian student shot dead in US

Sunday December 26, 2010 10:55:33 PM, IANS

Hyderabad/Washington: An Indian student hailing from Andhra Pradesh has been shot dead during a robbery at a convenience store in the US, his family and US media reports said Sunday.

Elaprolu Jayachandra, 22, was shot dead by unidentified robbers early Saturday at the store in Pasadena in Texas where he was working. He was shot five times, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The incident occurred when a man in a ski mask shot Jayachandra and took the cash register, Pasadena police spokesman Bud Corbett was quoted as saying by the Houston Chronicle.

A manager at the store, Ali Kahn, said the victim had been working at the store for less than a month.

Jayachandra's family in Andhra Pradesh received the shocking news from his friends late Saturday night. The incident took place between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. local time Dec 25.

Jayachandra, who had gone to the US in July and was doing his Masters in computers, had taken up part-time job as a clerk at the gas station store only a month ago.

A pall of gloom has descended on the house of Jayachandra in Vijayawada city in Krishna district, about 300 km from here. Relatives and friends poured in to console Jayachandra's parents and family members.

"We were told that a black man barged into the gas station, shot at my son and escaped with the money. But we also received another version that the man was not black. Whoever he may be, he is a criminal," an inconsolable Nageswara Rao told reporters in Vijayawada.

Jayachandra was reportedly shot five times and the police there are looking for two assailants.

Police distributed the surveillance video from the store to local media outlets in an attempt to find witnesses, the newspaper said.

The CCTV footage obtained by the police showed a masked man entering the gas station, shooting the clerk and taking away the cash register.

Jayachandra was able to get behind a door that opened to a small office behind the counter. However, he appears to have been shot through the door.

The family members said Jayachandra's body would be flown home in couple of days. Telugu Association of North America (TANA) has promised to help the family in making the arrangements.

Jayachandra's murder is the latest in a series of incidents involving Telugu students and professionals.

In June this year, Adarsh John, who was doing Masters in Texas University, was found murdered by unidentified people.

In March, 28-year-old Prashanth Goinaka was shot dead by unidentified robbers at a convenience store in Oklahoma. He was studying MBA at the International Technological University at California and had taken up a part-time job.

As many as 12 Telugu students and techies were murdered in the US during the last three years.

                                           Home | Top of the Page

Top Stories

CBI raids Kalmadi's Delhi, Pune residences, Games office

CBI Friday raided the Delhi and Pune homes of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi as well as the Games office here, two months after the mega event ended amid allegations of major financial irregularities.    »

Suresh Kalmadi's premises raided by CBI

  Most Read

Islamic banking thrives in financial crisis

Islamic banking has emerged as one of the most rapidly expanding sectors of the global financial industry, with expectations that it will play a growing role in the years to come. Banks and financial institutions that comply with Islamic law (sharia) showed   »

The real battle for the idea of India

What's India’s ruling Congress party up to now?

Is it really undergoing a radical metamorphosis or is this yet another clever, little trick out of its ancient bag? When was the last time you had senior Congress leaders hold forth on Hindu extremism being a grave threat to India's security  »

  News Pick

Anarchists behind Rome mail bombs

Package bombs exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome on Thursday, wounding the two people who opened them, in attacks that bore similarities to  »

Kerala Govt to transfer land for AMU Malappuram Dec 28

The Aligarh Muslim University move to establish a state-of-art AMU Centre at Malappuram has received a big push. The Kerala government has acquired a total of 392 acres of land for setting up the AMU Centre and decided to   »

Rights activist Binayak Sen convicted, arrested

Rights activist Binayak Sen, accused of links with Maoists, was Friday convicted for sedition and conspiracy by a Chhattisgarh court and arrested soon after, leaving his family and fellow activists shaken and disappointed.   »

Pope delivers unprecedented Christmas message on BBC

In a first for the Vatican and British broadcaster BBC, Pope Benedict XVI Friday was given a radio slot to deliver a Christmas message   »

A madrassa starts yoga, propagates communal harmony

Shortly after reciting 'Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim' from the Holy Quran, hundreds of students at a madrassa here fall in line for their first lesson of the day - yoga taught by a Hindu teacher. Imdadul-Jamia-Uloom Madrassa   »