Indian embassy in touch with kin of slain professor

NEW DELHI: The Indian embassy in Washington is in touch with the family of Indian professor GV Loganathan, who was killed in a gory shootout in the Virginia Tech university, and will help in bringing the body back home.

The embassy officials are also in touch with the Indian Students Association in the university and are trying to find out more details of the Monday shootout, official sources said here on Tuesday. 

Indian officials will visit the university soon. They will assist the family in completing all necessary formalities required to carry the body of Loganathan back to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.

The 51-year-old Loganathan, a lecturer in the civil and environmental engineering department of Virginia Tech, was killed in a shooting rampage on the campus by an unidentified person on Monday. Thirty-three people were killed and scores injured in the incident, described as the deadliest such shooting spree in modern US history.

Loganathan, a widely respected professor who won an award for excellence in teaching last year, was an alumnus of IIT, Kanpur, and obtained his doctorate from Purdue University in the US.

The professor had been teaching at the university, known for its large presence of Indian teachers and students, for the last 15 years. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.