Killing of Telangana man in US bar shocks family, Swaraj

Hyderabad, Feb 24: The killing of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in a shooting incident in the US has shocked his family, while the parents of his friend, who was injured, plan to rush abroad to be by his side.

Kuchibhotla (32) hailed from Hyderabad while Alok Madasani, also 32, hails from Warangal town in Telangana. They were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.

A 51-year-old US Navy veteran opened fire, killing Kuchibhotla and injuring Madasani and an American in a bar in Olathe, Kansas, on Wednesday night.

The attacker identified as Adam Purinton mistook the Indians for "Middle Easterners" and reportedly yelled "get out of my country".

Ian Grillot, 24, was injured when he tried to intervene to save the Indians.

The family of Kuchibhotla was shocked over the incident and has sought help from the state and central governments in bringing his body back home.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday expressed shock over the shooting incident.

Expressing her "heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family", the minister tweeted that she has spoken to Indian Ambassador in the US Navtej Sarna and that "two Indian embassy officials have rushed to Kansas".

"Consul R.D. Joshi is rushing from Houston to Kansas to render all possible assistance. Vice Consul Harpal Singh is also proceeding from Dallas to Kansas," she said.

They would meet Madasani (who was discharghed from hospital) and facilitate in bringing the mortal remains of Kuchibhotla, she said.

Joshi and Singh would be in touch with the local police officials to ascertain more details of the incident and monitor the follow-up action, the minister said.

Kuchibholta graduated from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University here in 2005 with a degreei in electrical engineering.

He did his Master's degree from the University of Texas in El Paso and was working since 2014 with Garmin, best known for its consumer navigation systems.

Kuchibhotla is survived by his wife Sunayana Dumala, who is also from Hyderabad and works in a technology company in Kansas. They married in 2012.

Hailing from Warangal, Madasani is a graduate from the Vasavi College of Engineering here.

Madasani, who did his Master's from the University of Missouri in Kansas City, also started at Garmin around the same time as Kuchibhotla.

Madasani's father Jaganmohan Reddy said the family received the information Friday morning from his elder son who lives in Dallas in the US. Madasani is stated to be out of danger.

Reddy, who plans to rush to the US, said his son was living in Kansas since 2008, but never faced any such incident.

He said he came to know that the attacker opened fire despite Madasani telling him that they were legally living and working in the US.

Kuchibhotla is the second youth from Telangana to be killed in the US in February.

Software engineer Vamshi Reddy Mamidala was shot dead by an alleged drug addict in Milpitas, California, on February 10, in the garage of his apartment building.

The 27-year-old, who also hailed from Warangal district, had gone to the US in 2015 and after his Master's, was looking for a regular job.

His body was brought home on February 17.