Man kills fellow Indian in Texas thinking he was his uncle
The accused has been identified as Deepak Kandal, a 31-year-old Indian man, who had mistaken the victim Akshay Gupta as his uncle, and stabbed him
A 30-year-old Indian man was stabbed to death by another Indian man while travelling in a public bus in Austin, Texas, police said on Tuesday (May 19).
The accused has been identified as Deepak Kandal, a 31-year-old Indian man, who had stabbed the victim, Akshay Kumar Gupta, on the bus.
Victim found dead on scene
Austin Police Department (APD) said the incident happened on the evening of May 14. Officers and emergency medical services received an alert call of someone being shot or stabbed on a bus and rushed to the site immediately.
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However, paramedics found only the body of the deceased, Akshay Kumar Gupta, with signs of trauma.
Officials said that they performed emergency life-saving measures, but Gupta was pronounced dead on the scene.
'Victim looked like his uncle'
Investigations into the assault showed that Kandal was seated next to Gupta on the bus when the stabbing occurred. Reports also say that the accused exited the vehicle with other passengers and left the scene on foot in a ‘calm’ manner.
Within a short time, Austin police were able to find and detain him, where, under questioning, he confessed to the crime.
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He said that he had stabbed Akshay due to him looking ‘like his uncle’.
Kandel was booked into the Travis County Jail and charged with 1st Degree murder.
Victim an entrepreneur in health tech startups
Gupta was an entrepreneur in the health-tech startup space.
He is the founder of a startup company called ASG Research LLC, which focuses on a new patent-pending invention Footbit, designed to help senior citizens improve mobility and balance.
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According to his LinkedIn profile, Akshay Kumar Gupta held a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, and a Master’s degree from Penn State University.
86 Indians killed in 2023
According to a statistic released by the Indian Government, eighty-six Indian nationals have been attacked or killed in various countries in 2023 alone.
This includes an Indian engineering student studying his Masters in Engineering, who was stabbed in the head at a gym in Indiana, USA resulting in his death.
Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh speaks on the deaths
Of the 86 Indians killed, 12 were in the United States, and 10 each were in Canada, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, showing a disturbing rise in the trend, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh informed the Parliament.
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“The safety and security of Indians abroad is one of the foremost priorities for the government of India. Our missions and posts remain vigilant and closely monitor any untoward incident. Such incidents are immediately taken up with the concerned authorities of the host country to ensure that the cases are properly investigated and the perpetrators are punished,” said Singh.