Another Indian student shot dead in US
Five weeks after the unresolved murder of two Indian students at the Louisiana
State University, yet another Indian PhD student of a prominent American
university has been gunned down.
Abhijeet Mahato, 29, of the Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering
in Durham, North Carolina, was found shot dead in an apartment complex, several
blocks off the campus at about 11.30 pm on Friday.
As in the Louisiana killings of Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar
Allam, the police are still to establish a motive for the shooting.
Investigations are said to be continuing.
Mahato, who hailed from Jharkhand, was pursuing a doctorate degree in
computational mechanics. A meritorious student, Mahato was in his second year
at Duke, after having finished his bachelor's in engineering from Jadavpur
University in 2001 and master's from IIT Kanpur in 2004.
"This is a tragic circumstance, and we are doing everything possible to
assist those who may be affected by it," said Larry Moneta, Duke's
vice-president for student affairs.
A report posted on the Duke website said the university has begun reaching
out to Mahato's family and friends in India, as well as to Indian and other
international students on campus. "It is offering counselling services and has
begun considering appropriate ways of commemorating Mahato's life," the
communication said.
Originally from Tata Nagar, Mahato was described by his professor as
"intellectually curious, kind and outgoing".
"He made friends very easily and always had a smile on his face," said Prof
Tod Laursen who held a meeting with his lab team on Saturday, adding: "Our
research team was particularly close to Abhijit. He was very well read in both
poetry and literature, and enjoyed conversation with others about what they
were reading."
Before coming to Duke, Mahato had worked for two years for the GE Global
Research Center in Bangalore, where he focused on finite element analysis, a
computer-simulation technique used in engineering.
"We were working together on an industry-funded research project and
Abhijit's prior industry experience helped him develop close working
relationships with our partner. He understood their needs as a business and was
a pleasure to work with," Laursen said.
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