The Hindu : Front Page : 2 Indians shot dead on U.S. varsity campus

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Saturday, Dec 15, 2007
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2 Indians shot dead on U.S. varsity campus

Baton Rouge (Louisiana): Two Indian doctoral students were found shot dead in an apartment on the Louisiana State University campus on Thursday night. Police are searching for three suspects.

Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam were found dead by the authorities after they received a call from Kumar’s pregnant wife seeking urgent medical aid.

Both were shot once in the head and three men seen leaving the area, said Charles Zewe, a university spokesperson.

“From what we are being told, Reddy was bound with a computer cable and shot,” Mr. Zewe said. “The other man’s body was found near the door.”

Kumar’s wife called the authorities after returning home and finding the men dead, said Reddy’s friend Srinivasa Pothakamuri. Reddy, a biochemistry student, was visiting the apartment. Kumar was in the chemistry programme.

Killings on campus

The killings were the first homicides on the campus since the early 1990s, said Kristine Calongne, another university spokesperson.

“No other violence was reported and students are free to move around the campus. Police actually think it is a straight home invasion and not a concern to the rest of the campus,” she said.

An emergency text message was sent to students registered for an emergency alert system, but not all students received it, the university said. The problem was being investigated.

Many campuses implemented such emergency alert measures following the mass shootings at Virginia Tech earlier this year where a South Korean student killed 32 people before killing himself.

Ms. Calongne said only 8,000 students, less than one-third of the student body, had signed up for cellphone notification. Officials also sent out an e-mail, voice mail message and posted a message on the university website.

The apartment building where the shootings took place is designated for married and graduate students. The complex is located on the edge of the 2,000-acre campus, close to one of Baton Rouge’s highest-crime areas. — AP

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