Manhunt launched for suspects in murder of two Indian students

HOUSTON: Police have launched a massive manhunt for three 'black men' who are suspected to have killed two doctoral students from Andhra Pradesh at a Louisiana State University apartment as the Indian consulate here established contact with the campus authorities to ascertain more details about the double homicide.

The incident took place on Thursday night inside an apartment at the Edward Gay complex in Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge. The victims, Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma (31) and Kiran Kumar Allam (33), were pursuing their PhD in biology and chemistry respectively.

Both Indian students had been shot once in the head, according to Charles Zewe, a spokesman for the LSU System.

Sgt Don Kelly of Baton Rouge police department said they were looking for three black men who were seen hurriedly leaving the vicinity of the apartment where the murders occurred.

"The men got into a small to mid-size four-door car, possibly occupied by a fourth person (driver)," he said, adding the car was seen leaving the complex with its headlights turned out.

The suspects involved in the home invasion, however, have not been identified. Therefore, university officials are urging the LSU community to use caution when moving around the campus.

The Indian Consulate at Houston established contact with the university to ascertain more details 'as soon as we were made aware of this heinous crime, ' yesterday morning', the mission officials said.

A two-member team was dispatched by the Indian embassy to Louisiana State University to talk to the university authorities, police department and the Indian-American community to render all possible assistance.
    
The members of the team are Consul K P Pillai from the Consulate General here and First Secretary Alok Pandey from the embassy in Washington.
    
Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen conveyed "his deepest condolences to the family members of the victims of this tragedy and hopes that the culprits will be caught and due justice meted out to them."
    
The LSU Police Department is serving as the lead law enforcement agency in a task force that has been put together to probe the incident.
    
The task force includes the Baton Rouge Police Department, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office and Louisiana State Police, with assistance from the FBI. No new details of the investigation have been released.
    
In addition, there is a heightened security presence on campus, with law enforcement officials being more visible than usual at the Edward Gay Apartments and other housing units on the northwest portion of the campus. Anyone with any information pertaining to the crime, no matter how big or small, is asked to call LSU Police Department.
    
The LSU Indian Student Association has announced it is organising a memorial service in the Student Union Ballroom.
    
LSU Chancellor Sean O'Keefe said that both the victims, who were in the US on student visas, were married.

At the request of the victims' families, LSU will not release photos of the two graduate students.
    
The LSU Foundation has established the Komma and Allam Support Fund to assist the students' families. Trained social workers and counselors from the LSU Mental Health Service are available for family and friends of the victims and for any members of the LSU community.     

The initial call to LSU Police Department came in at 10:37 pm local time as a medical emergency. Officers and medical personnel, who were immediately dispatched to the scene, assessed the situation and notified their supervisors.
    
Those supervisors then contacted university officials, who rushed to the campus, gathered the latest information and sent out an emergency text message to members of the LSU community who had previously registered their cell phones with the university's emergency text-message system.
    
University officials also sent out a broadcast e-mail to members of the LSU community and voice message to all campus phones and posted a message to the LSU website.
    
"From what we are being told, Komma was bound with a computer cable and shot. The other man was found near the door," Zewe said. "There was no indication of forced entry."
    
The emergency call was made by Allam's pregnant wife, who returned home and found the men dead.
    
No other incidents were reported and the campus was not locked down, though officials were cautioning students about travelling to the university and police patrols were increased on campus.
    
The shootings happened as final exams were nearing completion on the 30,000-student campus and classes were not cancelled. "Finals wrap up Saturday, but many of them are already finished," said LSU spokeswoman Kristine Calongne. "A lot of students have already gone home."
    
The murders were the first homicides on LSU's campus since the early 1990s, she said.
    
During the fall 2007 semester, LSU had a total of 1,468 international students, 332 of whom were from India. That 332 represented the largest group of international students from a single country at LSU this fall. LSU's total student enrollment for the fall semester was 28,019.     

O'Keefe was quoted by local newspaper 'The Advocate' as saying the men "appeared to be targeted for reasons unknown."
    
"This does not appear to be a random event," O'Keefe was quoted as saying.
    
Terry Bricker, professor of basic sciences, had Komma working in his laboratory about two years ago when he was a new doctoral student.
    
"He was a really nice, really easy to get along with," Bricker told the paper. "He was quiet, but very, very interested in learning about science. He got along well with his colleagues."
    
Bricker said Komma eventually transferred to the laboratory of Professor Wayne Zhou, who declined comment, saying he was told not to do so.
    
Bricker said Komma recently passed his general exam to become a doctoral "candidate," which put him on the right track toward completing his degree.
    
"That was a milestone for him," Bricker said, "which kind of makes this even more difficult to take."
    
Sources say that there was no sign forced entry in the apartment in the building meant for married and graduate students which is located in fringe of a high crime area.
    
O'Keefe said "the preliminary assessment is that it was a home invasion and there was no further suggestive motive."
    
He said University has taken every precaution to notify the campus community.
    
It appeared to be "very specifically" targeted towards the two individuals involved for "reason unknown and undetermined" at this point of time, he added.