Sunil Tripathi not Boston Marathon bombing suspect

Washington, April 19 (IANS) Indian-origin student Sunil Tripathi is not a suspect in the Boston marathon bombing, contrary to some rumours floating on the social media.

Tripathi, a 22-year-old Brown University student who went missing mysteriously March 16, was reported by some as the Boston bombing suspect number two Thursday night.

Tripathi was first suggested as a suspect for Monday's Boston Marathon bombings on Reddit, then later by the Twitter account of Kami Mattioli, who knew the college student when he was in high school, the Inquisitr, a news website reported.

But the reports of Tripathi's involvement in the bombings, which killed three people and wounded more than 160 others, turned out to be false with news media reporting Friday that the suspects were reportedly brothers from a region near Chechnya, who have been inside the US for about one year.

Global Grind, another website focusing on celebrities, said Sunil Tripathi is not a suspect.

Although he was mentioned by the Boston police on their scanner as the person they were looking for, the site said it had learned that in fact Tripathi is not wanted by the police in connection with the marathon bombings.

But Tripathi still remains missing.

The search has been difficult and even involved the FBI. But despite pooling resources, the Inquisitr cited Providence Police Detective Mark Sacco as saying that they have no leads.

The former Brown student had been working through personal problems and was temporarily kicked out of Brown.

He left his apartment in the city without his cellphone, credit card, ID, and other personal effects. The effort to find Sunil Tripathi has involved social media, including his Twitter account, @findingsunny.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)