Government making efforts to bring back Kuchibhotla's body: Bandaru Dattatreya

Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya said on Sunday the government is making efforts to bring back the body of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead in the United States in an apparent case of hate crime. The Labour and Employment Minister also said he spoke to the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who assured him that the Centre is taking care of safety and security of Indians in the US.

"The government is making efforts to bring back Srinivas Kuchibhotla's body to India," the Minister said.

Dattatreya and Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu visited the Kuchibhotla's home in Hyderabad and consoled his parents. The Labour Minister expressed shock and grief over "the ghastly incident".

Meanwhile, former Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao wrote separate letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swaraj requesting them to send an all-party delegation to talk to the Trump administration and instil confidence among Indians about their safety.

The alleged attacker, who was arrested after the incident, reportedly yelled "get out of my country" before opening fire on 32-year-old Kuchibhotla and his Indian colleague Alok Madasani Wednesday night.

Kuchibhotla was killed while his friend was injured in the firing. A third person, an American man identified as Ian Grillot, 24, who tried to intervene also received injuries in the firing in Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe in Kansas City in the US state of Missouri.