Family, friends bid tearful adieu to Indian killed in US

Hyderabad, Feb 28 (IANS) Family members, relatives, friends and people from different walks of life bid a tearful adieu to Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead in the US on February 22 in a suspected hate crime.

His last rites were performed at the cremation ground in Jubilee Hills here on Tuesday.

K. Madhusudhana Sastry performed the last rites of his son as some of the mourners including the techie's friends were seen carrying placards with slogans like "down with racism".

Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Muralidhar Rao, other leaders from the BJP, TRS and other parties, and actor couple Jeevitha and Rajasekhar paid their last respects.

The body was brought from Kuchibhotla's house in Bachupally, on the city's outskirts.

As his final journey began, the engineer's parents were inconsolable while his wife Sunayana Dumala, who arrived with the mortal remains on Monday night, broke down as she had his last glimpse.

The body was brought by a cargo flight while Sunayana, her brother, sister-in-law and another relative reached by a passenger flight.

Mourners poured in at his residence through the night and Tuesday morning to pay their last respects.

Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white man who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on February 22.

Purinton got into an argument with the two and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country", "terrorist" before shooting them.

Kuchibhotla of Hyderabad and his colleague Madasani from Warangal district in Telangana were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an MNC.

Clinton asks Trump to speak out after shooting of Indian techie

Houston, Feb 28 (IANS) Former US Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has asked President Donald Trump to "step up and speak out" on rising hate crimes in the US, in the wake of the killing of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in a Kansas City bar last week.

"With threats & hate crimes on rise, we shouldn't have to tell @POTUS to do his part. He must step up & speak out," Clinton tweeted.

The Democratic presidential nominee, who was thought to be a favourite to win the November elections, lost to Donald Trump of the Republican Party.

Her comments came as the body of Kuchibhotla was flown to India and cremated on Tuesday in Hyderabad with grieving relatives, friends and neighbours gathering for the last rites.

Kuchibhotla, 32, was shot dead by a US Navy veteran, Adam Purinton, 51, in an apparent hate crime.

Purinton shot dead Kuchibhotla while his friend Alok Madasani was injured at a pub in Kansas.

Purinton, 51, made his first court appearance in the case that is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Purinton appeared before a Johnson County District Court judge via video conference on Monday. He faces one charge of first-degree murder and two charges of attempted first-degree murder in last Wednesday's shooting at the bar in Olathe, Kansas.

On Friday, the widow of Kuchibhotla sought answers to what she perceived was a spread in American hate crimes.

"I have a question in my mind: Do we belong?" said Sunayana Dumala, who like her husband travelled from India to attend a US college.

"We've read many times in newspapers of some kind of shooting happening," she said at a news conference at the headquarters of Garmin, where Kuchibhotla worked as an aviation systems engineer. "And we always wondered, how safe?"

While President Trump is yet to comment on the shooting, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said last week that it was too early to call the act a hate crime. 

Spicer also referred to the shooting at a news conference on Monday while addressing President Trump's concerns against recent acts of vandalism against Jewish cemeteries in St Louis and Philadelphia.

"No one in America should feel afraid to follow the religion of their choosing freely and openly. The president has dedicated to preserving this originating principle of our nation," Spicer said.

"And while we're at it, I don't want to get ahead of law enforcement, but I was asked the other day about the story in Kansas, the shooting in Kansas. And while the story is evolving, early reports out of Kansas are equally disturbing," he said.

No need for demarche over techie shooting in Kansas: India

New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) India on Tuesday denied reports appearing in a section of the media that its embassy in Washington has issued a demarche to the US State Department over last week's shooting of an Indian techie at a bar in Kansas city.

"The government of the United States and senior authorities in Kansas have pro-actively responded to the unfortunate death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in response to a query on media reports about the demarche being issued. 

"In this context, I would like to draw your attention to the strong condemnation of the tragic shooting, issued by the US Embassy in New Delhi on February 24," he said. 

He also referred to the statement by US Charge d'Affaires in India Mary Kay Carlson in which she said hat the US was a nation of immigrants and the authorities there would "investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case".

"This approach is reflected in the sentiments and assurances from senior most authorities of Kansas, who have reached out to the Indian Consul General in Houston," Baglay said. 

"These developments obviated the need for a demarche by the (Indian) government on this matter."

Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani was injured when US Navy veteran Adam W. Purinton fired at them at the Austin's Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on February 22.

Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the two and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country" before shooting them. 

Ian Grillot, a 24-year-old American, who tried to save the Indians, was hit by a bullet that pierced his hand and then lodged in his chest. He has since been hospitalised and is in fair condition. 

"It is important to note that the US authorities are engaged with us on the larger concern regarding safety of Indians in the US, a matter which continues to receive the government's top priority," Baglay said in his statement on Tuesday.

"We also must not forget the noble and courageous gesture of the young American, Ian Grillot, who risked his life while countering the shooter," he added.