Indian dentist killed in California, probe on

A 37-year-old dental student from India, Randhir Kaur, was found dead at her San Francisco Bay Area apartment. She was shot in the head, but there were no signs of intrusion into her apartment.

The investigation is going on for the last one week, but so far no arrests have been made and no suspects have been interrogated.

This homicide is the latest in the increasing number of attacks on Indians in the US. On February 6, an old Indian man was assaulted by two police officers. There was also an attack on a Hindu temple in Washington on February 15. A shop keeper’s son in New Jersey was also shot dead.

Randhir Kaur was an international student at the University of California San Francisco, pursuing Dentist Programme. She was found dead in her apartment about 4 pm on March 8 after University officials became concerned about her well-being.

“Ms Kaur was shot sometime after she attended afternoon prayers at a Sikh temple,” a police official said. Albany police department requested forensic experts from the Alameda County sheriff’s crime laboratory to provide additional help.

On March 16, the police recovered personal items belonging to Kaur inside a trash receptacle in the 5200 block of Panama Avenue in Richmond, located around 3.2 kilometers away from Kaur’s apartment.

Experts from the Alameda County sheriff’s crime laboratory will be assisting the investigation. Around 6 full-time investigators are working on the case.

The killing of the student has triggered anxiety among the Indian-American community. The US is home to around 3 million-strong Indian diaspora, and is a preferred destination for Indians going overseas for studies.

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