Ritu Jha–
Indian American student Amogh Upadhya, who was accused of arson at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in San Jose State University has been released from jail. However, the university police are adamant he did it and acted alone. Upadhya was charged with four counts of arson by the Santa Clara Superior Court on April 12 for allegedly setting fires in the college restrooms. He was arrested on April 10 and was held on $400,000 bail.
Jessica Kellogg, Communications Program Manager, Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara told indica on email, “The defendant is on a supervised own recognizance release.” Upadhya, who has returned to his parents’ house, told indica over the phone, “I don’t know what you are talking about…. don’t call this number.”
According to Mercury News, he will be going through psychological counseling and has to stay 300 yards away from the university property.
Captain Frank Belcastro, told indica Upadhyay acted alone. He said no bomb unit was called but the office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) responded to both the arson on March 31 and April 8.
Adding on he said that what he did was a safety hazard and he started the fire in an occupied building and on two separate occasions.” “He started the fire… on the 7th floor and one on the 8th floor. He stuffed papers and started it that led to the fire and the evacuation of the building,” Captain Belcastro said. “The library was occupied by a lot of people.” We did not call the bomb team and the state fire marshal assisted and no bomb squad was called.
“He operated all alone. And he was arrested in the library around 5 pm on April 10.
All personnel involved worked tirelessly to canvass the area, review security camera footage, cultivate leads, and ultimately identify the suspect,” Cal Fire said in a press note. Upadhyay a sophomore is an undergraduate researcher at the College of Engineering at SJSU. He was also in the cohort 2023-2024 Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) that comprises of only 31 students.
On his LinkedIn profile [now deleted] Upadhya says that he researches computer vision using AI technologies such as Darknet YOLO and employs ROS interfaces to incorporate machine learning algorithms into the robotic control loop.
“As a Robotics Researcher at San Jose State University, I develop innovative solutions using robotics, machine learning, and cloud computing. I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology/ Computer Network Systems, and I have earned multiple certifications and honors in these domains, such as DevOps on AWS Specialization and CCNA: Introduction to Networks. I am a motivated, results-oriented, collaborative team player, who values customer service, innovation, and quality. I am eager to apply my skills, technologies, and tools to real-world problems and projects, and to learn from new challenges and opportunities. I am seeking software internships that will help me grow as a software engineer and contribute to the success of the organization,” his profile reads.
