Sunando Sen, who lived in Queens and had recently opened his own printing business, was killed when the unidentified woman pushed him onto the subway tracks in front of an oncoming train on Thursday.
The New York Police is offering a reward of $12000 for information regarding a "mumbling" woman who pushed an Indian immigrant to his death in front of a subway train here, sending shock waves among millions of commuters who use the city's expansive transit system daily.
Sunando Sen, who lived in Queens and had recently opened his own printing business, was killed when the unidentified woman pushed him onto the subway tracks in front of an oncoming train on Thursday.
Witnesses said the attack happened so quickly at the Queens subway station that Sen could not react and nor could the bystanders do anything to help him.
Posters by the NYPD showing a black and white picture of the suspect and seeking information about her have been pasted across subway stations in Queens.
The police said it would pay $12,000 for information leading to the "arrest and conviction" of the woman responsible for the horrific crime.
The police has also released a sketch of the woman, who ran from the scene after pushing Sen unexpectedly on the train tracks.
The incident is the second in less than a month when an unsuspecting person was killed after being pushed onto the subway tracks by a fellow commuter.
Police has released surveillance video of the woman running away from the station and expressed confidence that it would be able to apprehend the suspect.
"We're reasonably confident we'll be able to identify the perpetrator in this case," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
Sen had opened a printing and copying business near Columbia University here and shared a small apartment with three other roommates.
"Very sad, very sad — like I said I can't believe it, can't believe it, this happened. Oh my God," Sen's roommate A R Suman said in a CBS report.
"I'm broken, because this guy was so nice person, so quiet person, so gentle," another roommate AD Khan added.
The roommates said Sen worked hard hours despite a heart condition that often left him exhausted. Sen had opened a small copying and printing business this year on the city's Upper West Side.
He was hit by the first car of the train and his body was pinned under the second car before the 11-car train came to a stop.
The condition of Sen's body had made it difficult for the police to identify him and investigators used his phone and a medicine bottle he was carrying for his identification.
Police said his family in India has been notified.
According to Sen's roommates, he was not married and his parents were dead.
Suman, described him as a "very educated person and quite nice."
"It is unbelievable. He never had a problem with anyone," Suman said in a New York Times report.
Suman said Sen had toiled hard to save money to open his printing business and hardly took a day off from work.
"I asked him why do you work seven days a week?" Suman said.
"He told me, 'I cannot hire someone because business is not good.'" Sen's roommates said they could not think of any reason as to why the woman pushed him onto the tracks.
He said Sen enjoyed watching funny clips on YouTube and would listen to classical Indian music.
The suspect has been described as a heavyset Hispanic woman in her 20s, approximately 5-foot-5 tall with blonde or brown hair.
She was last seen wearing a blue, white and grey ski jacket and grey and red Nike sneakers.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to pray for the victim but said such incidents were rare and hard to predict.
"We do live in a world where our subway platforms are open and that's not going to change. To say everybody should exercise care... goes without saying," Bloomberg told reporters in Brooklyn on Friday.
New York Police Department chief spokesman Paul Browne said according to witnesses, the woman had been following Sen closely and was mumbling to herself.
There had apparently been no exchange between Sen and the woman before he was pushed by her.
Witnesses said Sen was looking out over the tracks and the woman was sitting on a wooden bench near the wall behind him. He had his back towards her and was not aware that she was approaching him.
As the train pulled into the tracks, the woman got up from the bench and pushed Sen over.
The shocking incident comes just weeks after 58-year-old Ki-Suck Han was pushed in front of a subway train in Times Square by 30-year-old homeless man Naeem Davis.
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