An Indian graduate student, K Seshadri Rao, pursuing management studies in Boston University in the United States was shot dead on Thursday night. The Boston police are yet to ascertain if the murder was racially motivated.
The body covered with gunshot wounds in the head and legs was found near an apartment around 1.5km from the university campus.
The 24-yr-old Rao is from Jeypore village in Odisha’s Koraput district, around 600km southwest of Bhubaneswar. The Indian embassy in the US as well as the dean of Boston University informed Rao’s father, a manager with the Utkal Gramya Bank in Jeypore, about the incident.
Rao’s body is expected to reach Bhubaneswar on Monday.
“My son did not have any enemies, neither did he have any bad habits. I cannot imagine how this happened,” said K Sudhakar Rao.
The Boston police are investigating the case. However, no arrests have been made in the case so far.
In a statement, Boston University president Robert Brown said Boston police and university police are investigating the circumstances of the “dreadful crime” which appears to be an “isolated incident”.
Rao studied at the Steward Science College in Cuttack and then graduated in electrical and electronics engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka.
{{/usCountry}}Rao studied at the Steward Science College in Cuttack and then graduated in electrical and electronics engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka.
{{/usCountry}}He joined the faculty of a Bhubaneswar-based private university before moving to Boston University in August 2011 for an MBA in treasury management. He was supposed to complete the course in May.
Sudhakar said his son was an exceptionally bright student and had recently received an internship offer from a US company. He had taken a study loan of Rs 15 lakh and arranged another Rs 10 lakh from relatives to finance his son’s studies.
Strongly condemning the killing, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said he would take up the matter with the ministry of external affairs. “I am deeply shocked. This is absolutely barbaric and horrible,” he said.
(With agency inputs)