Indian student from Telangana shot dead in Chicago shopping mall | Hyderabad News

HYDERABAD: A 22-year-old Indian student from Khammam in Telangana was shot dead by assailants at a store in Chicago in the US.
Sai Teja Nukarapu died on the spot, succumbing to bullet injuries. The incident took place on September 29 in the US.
Relatives of Sai Teja said they received information after the incident at 5.40 am IST on September 30 that two persons, whose motive seemed to be robbery, shot Sai Teja after they pointed a gun at him and collected the cash.
Sai Teja was doing a part-time job as a cashier at a store. He went to the US on June 15 to pursue an MS after completing a BBA in Hyderabad. He took admission to Concordia University in Chicago.
Family members said Sai Teja completed his shift and was about to leave when he was requested by another person to stay back for a while, as it was Friday and the person wanted to go for Namaz.
Meanwhile, the two assailants who showed up at the cash counter demanded that Sai Teja part with the cash. Family members said, from the information they got from his friends in the US, he did not resist them but instead handed over the cash. “Despite that, he was shot dead. The family is deeply troubled and is grieving,” a relative said.
“The guilty assailant should be severely punished. An innocent life is lost,” a relative said.
Sai Teja’s father, Koteshwar Rao Nukarapu, and mother, Vani, live in Khammam town in Raparthinagar. Sai Teja has an elder sister who also went to the US and, after completing her studies, joined a job there.
Neighbours of Koteshwar Rao said deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Khammam MP R Raghuram Reddy were pursuing with the authorities in MEA and the US to help bring back the body of Sai Teja to India.
The Telugu Association of North America (TANA) has also taken the initiative to send the body to Khammam, but it may take at least a week as the post-mortem will have to be conducted and official formalities completed, relatives said.