Indian national shot dead in Maryland

iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-

A 25-year-old Indian national was shot dead in Maryland on Sunday, June 19.

The deceased, Nakka Sai Charan, graduated from the University of Cincinnati in January 2022 and was a native of Nalgonda in the southern Indian state of Telangana. After he was shot, Sai Charan was taken to the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center where he was pronounced dead after a while.

His father, Nakka Narsimha, a retired school headmaster said, “We did not want to send our son to the US. We wanted him to be here. I had no interest in sending him there and told him not to go.”

According to Baltimore police, the case is being treated as a homicide investigation and investigating personnel are seeking information from anyone who might have seen suspicious activity.

The Maryland Transportation Authority Police (MDTA) said they received information about a single-vehicle collision at the Caton Avenue exit of Interstate 95, the main north-south interstate highway on the East Coast, at 4.32am on Sunday.

Inside the 2022 silver Hyundai Tucson, Nakka Sai Charan was lying injured. At the trauma center the doctors discovered that Sai Charan had a gunshot wound to the head. He died less than two hours later, a statement by MDTA said.

In a statement, the Indian embassy in Washington, DC, said, “We have learnt about the unfortunate death of Nakka Sai Charan on the early morning of Sunday, June 19, 2022, in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore police have not yet revealed more details on circumstances of death, as the investigation is still in progress.” The embassy said it is in close touch with Sai Charan’s family and diaspora members to facilitate early repatriation of his mortal remains.

Due to the increase in racially-motivated hate crimes in the United States, the North American Association of Indian Students (NAAIS) raised concerns about the rising cases of violence against Indian-origin students and young professionals.

“We implore officials – locally and nationally – to look into certain policies to ensure the safety of all students and young professionals who arrive in the United States. We’re reaching out to Sai Charan’s classmates from the University of Cincinnati, and we plan to hold a vigil as well,” NAAIS said.