Washington (PTI): The body of Abhijit Mahato, the Duke University student who was found shot dead in his apartment last week, will be flown back to India by Friday, if not earlier, Indian officials here said.

Two senior Indian Embassy officials from Washington who were dispatched to Durham, North Carolina after the killing, will stay on until all formalities are complete and the remains of Mahato is flown back home.

Apart from meeting with police, university officials and student bodies, the officials are also facilitating the completion of all paperwork relating to the case.

The presence of senior Indian officials is a "reassurance to other Indian students," a senior official told PTI here.

The President of Duke University spoke to the Deputy Chief of Mission Ambassador Raminder Singh Jassal and expressed his condolences, besides praising Mahato, the official said.

Mahato, a second year PhD student in engineering focussed on computational mechanics at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, is from Ranchi.

There have been no indications of any breakthrough in the killing, the investigation of which is handled by the Durham Police. "If there has been a breakthrough I am not aware of it," a senior University official said.