US police follow leads to nab Hyderabad student’s killers

WASHINGTON - US police are trying to enhance the security video and following all leads to find the killers of an Indian student from Hyderabad gunned down in an apparent robbery in Connecticut.

Arun Kumar Narote, 26, a software engineering student at Stratford University, was working as a part-time store clerk at Norman’s Grocery and Deli in Bridgeport when he was gunned down by unidentified assailants Monday night.

The department “is working diligently to find the persons responsible for this most recent homicide”, Bridgeport’s acting police chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. was quoted as saying Wednesday by Stamford Advocate.

“Our department has done an enviable job of solving homicides to date, and I am confident in our ability to bring the responsible parties to justice,” Gaudett added.

A former University of Bridgeport student, Narote was just trying to earn money as he worked toward a master of science degree in software engineering at Stratford University, Virginia.

“He was living here with friends and working in the small grocery store to earn money for school,” Police Captain James Viadero was cited as saying.

According to Viadero, Narote was working behind a plexiglass enclosure when two men, wearing hooded sweatshirts, entered the store.

He said while one of the men pointed a handgun at the victim through an opening in the enclosure, the second man squeezed through the slot onto Narote’s side. The man then grabbed the cash register and headed out of the enclosure through the door.

“At that point, the other man shot the victim. From what we can see on the surveillance video in the store, the victim had not offered any resistance,” Viadero said.

He said they are attempting to enhance the video to try to identify the suspects.

Neighbours said the shooting took place sometime about 9.30 p.m. Monday and that police remained at the scene until about 3 a.m. Tuesday collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses. By daybreak Tuesday, the store was shuttered, with no sign of activity inside.

According to the Advocate, state records indicate that the store is owned by Usman Malik and Awais Malik, who were granted a beer permit in December 2007 by the state Department of Liquor Control.

The neighbourhood has a mix of Vietnamese, Korean, Hispanic, black and white residents.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)