Indian American’s death: Three teenagers charged with murder
By Arun Kumar, IANSWednesday, June 30, 2010
NEW YORK - The US authorities have charged three teenagers with murder and conspiracy to commit murder after an Indian American professor died of injuries suffered in an attack near his home in Old Bridge, New Jersey.
Divyendu Sinha, 49, succumbed to his injuries at 4 a.m. in Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick Monday, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan.
The three teenagers were arrested and earlier charged with assaulting Sinha, a former College of Staten Island professor, and his two sons Friday. Sinha taught at CSI from 1990 to 1999 as an assistant professor in the computer science department.
Kaplan said the investigation into the attack on Sinha is ongoing and that preliminary findings indicate the assault “was not racially motivated” but rather a random attack. He said no weapons were used.
Media reports citing authorities said they received a 911 call around 11:30 p.m. Friday. When officers arrived, they found the victim on the ground outside his house on Fela Drive, a neighbourhood of newer homes.
An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, Sinha had earned his Ph.D. from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken and worked for a time at the College of Staten Island. An author of several books on computer imaging, he had been working as a consultant to Siemens.
The three juveniles, who are not identified due to their age, had a hearing Monday morning before Superior Court Judge Roger Daley, who remanded them to the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Centre.
They are scheduled to return to Family Court Thursday for a preliminary hearing on the murder and murder conspiracy charges.
After the investigation is complete, Kaplan said he will review all reports in the case and decide whether to seek to try the three as adults in Superior Court.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
