Hyderabad: The shooting of two Indians in a crowded suburban Kansas City bar has sent shock waves through their hometowns and India’s government is rushing diplomats to monitor progress in investigation into the crime.
Jaganmohan Reddy, father of an engineer who was injured in the shooting incident on Wednesday night, says he thinks it’s a hate crime. He says such incidents have increased after the recent political changes in the United States.
ALSO READ: Indian engineer shot dead, 2 critically injured in Kansas
India’s external affairs ministry spokesman says another Indian engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was fatally shot in the attack, hailed from Hyderabad, the capital of southern Telangana state.
The suspected attacker, Adam Purinton, has been taken into custody and charged on Thursday with murder and attempted murder.
Two officials from the Indian consulate in Houston were going to Kansas to meet the injured men and police to “ascertain more details of the incident and monitor follow up action,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Vikas Swarup said in a statement, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has spoken to Navtej Sarna, the ambassador to the US. Swaraj said Kuchibhotla’s body will be transported to the city of Hyderabad, where his family lives, AP reported.
I have spoken to Indian Ambassador in US Mr.Navtej Sarna. He informed me that two Indian Embassy officials have rushed to Kansas.
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) February 24, 2017
Many Indians are also reacting to the incident with the micro-blogging site Twitter abuzz with them.
The US Embassy in New Delhi on Friday strongly condemned the shooting incident in Kansas resulting in the death of an Indian engineer and said American authorities will thoroughly investigate and bring the case to justice, PTI reported.
In a statement, US Chargé d’Affaires MaryKay Carlson said, “We are deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless act. Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families. The US is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live. “
US Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas posted a statement on Facebook saying that he was very disturbed by the shooting. “I strongly condemn violence of any kind, especially if it is motivated by prejudice and xenophobia,” Moran said.
The Kansas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called Thursday for state and federal hate crime charges to be brought against Purinton “in order to send a strong message that violence targeting religious or ethnic minorities will not be tolerated,” CAIR-Kansas Board Chair Moussa Elbayoumy said in a statement, reports The Washington Post.
A Sikh civil rights group has urged members of the Sikh-American community to exercise caution and be extra vigilant in the wake of a possible hate crime in Kansas city, PTI reported.
