Slain techie's body to reach Hyderabad on Monday

The body of Hyderabad engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead in the US in what appears to be a hate crime, will arrive here on Monday.

Telangana Minister for NRI Affairs K.T. Rama Rao said the body will arrive by Air India flight at 9.45 p.m.

After consoling the parents of Srinivas, he told reporters that the slain engineer's wife Sunayana Dumala and other relatives will accompany the body.

The Minister visited the house of Srinivas in Bachupally here and consoled his parents and other family members.

He spoke to Sinivas' father K. Madhusudhana Sastry and mother Parvata Vardhini, who was inconsolable.

The Minister later told reporters that Srinivas' parents said while no government can bring back their son, all efforts should be made to prevent such incidents in future so that parents of others are saved of this agony.

Rama Rao said that such incidents do raise concern among parents and relatives of those who have gone to the US for jobs or higher education.

Rama Rao, who is son of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, said he will discuss with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, the security concern among students and professionals working in US who want an assurance that this kind of incidents will not recur.

The Minister said immediately after learning about the incident, he contacted the officer on special duty on Sushma Swaraj's office and called for immediate steps to bring home of the body of the slain engineer at the earliest.

Rama Rao earlier expressed shock and anguish over the spate of attacks the US, the latest being the killing of.Srinivas.

"Shocked & anguished by the spate of attacks in US. Vamshi last month, Srinivas & Alok now," he tweeted on Saturday.

Rama Rao said the state government will work with the Ministry of External Affairs to offer support to the distressed.

Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white man who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on Wednesday night.

Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country", "terrorist" before shooting them.

Kuchibhotla of Hyderabad and his colleague Madasani from Warangal district in Telangana were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an MNC.

Kuchibhotla is the second man from Telangana to die in a shootout in the US this month.

Software engineer Vamshi Reddy Mamidala was shot dead in Milpitas, California, on February 10, by an offender in the garage of his apartment building.

The 27-year-old, who hailed from Warangal district, died when the assailant opened fire while fleeing after robbing a woman.

--IANS

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