Indian Student From Andhra Found Allegedly Murdered in US Forest, 9th Death so Far This Year

Massachusetts: In another tragic incident, the dead body of an Indian student was reportedly recovered from a car found abandoned in the forest area in the United States’s Boston this week. The latest incident of death of the Indian Student in the US is the 9th such incident so far this year, as per media reports.

The deceased, Abhijeeth Paruchuru, hailing from Andhra Pradesh's Burripalem in the Guntur district was studying at the Boston University, where he was allegedly killed by the thugs.

However, the law enforcement agencies in Boston have ruled any foul play in the incident after the initial investigation, officials said on Monday.

Mortal remains brought to India

The US Police tracked down the victim based on his phone signals. The authorities are further investigating the matter.

“Deeply saddened to learn about the unfortunate demise of Mr. Abhijeeth Paruchuru, an Indian student in Boston,” the Consulate General of India in New York said in a post on X.

Paruchuru’s parents are based in Connecticut and are in direct touch with detectives. Initial investigations rule out foul play, the consulate said.

The consulate said that it rendered assistance in documentation and transportation of his mortal remains to India and it remains in touch with local authorities as well as the Indian-American community in the matter.

According to sources, 20-year-old Paruchuru's last rites have already been performed in his hometown Tenali in Andhra Pradesh. US-based nonprofit organisation TEAM Aid had helped to bring his mortal remains to India.

Crimes against Indians in the US remain on the surge. Alone in 2024, eight students from India and of Indian American origin have died. Among these, two died by suicide, two died of overdoses, two were found dead after going missing, one was beaten to death, and one died due to an accident.

The alarming rise in the number of attacks has caused concern among the community.

8 Indian students died earlier

In March, Amarnath Ghosh, a 34-year-old trained classical dancer from India and a student of Washington University, was shot dead in St Louis, Missouri. Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam dancer Ghosh migrated to the US from West Bengal last year “to follow his dancing dreams”. He was shot several times near the border of St Louis' Academy and Central West End neighbourhoods. He died on the spot.

Sameer Kamath, a 23-year-old Indian-American student at Purdue University, was found dead in a nature preserve in Indiana on February 5.

On February 2, Vivek Taneja, a 41-year-old Indian-origin IT executive, suffered life-threatening injuries during an assault outside a restaurant in Washington, making it the seventh death of an Indian or Indian-American in recent months in the US.

A week before that, Syed Mazahir Ali, an Indian student was attacked by robbers in Chicago.

Earlier, 25-year-old Indian student Vivek Saini was fatally attacked in Georgia State’s Lithonia city by a homeless drug addict.

In January, 19-year-old Shreyas Reddy Beniger, a student at the Lindner School of Business in Ohio State was found dead. However, local authorities had ruled out foul play.

Another Indian student, identified as Neel Acharya at Purdue University, Indiana, was confirmed dead days after being reported missing on January 28.

Akul B Dhawan, an 18-year-old at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was found dead last month with signs of hypothermia.

The series of attacks on Indians and Indian origin person/students had prompted the officials of the Indian Embassy in Washington and its consulates at various places to hold a virtual interaction with Indian students from across the US, discussing various aspects of student well-being and ways to stay connected with the larger diaspora.

About 150 Indian Student Association office bearers and students from 90 US universities participated in the interaction led by Charge d’Affaires, Ambassador Sripriya Ranganathan.

It was also attended by the Consul Generals of India in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.