Chicago: A 26-year-old Indian student from Telangana has been missing in Chicago since May 2, according to the Indian Consulate General in the US city, the latest case in the country amid a spate of worrying incidents concerning the Indian community there, particularly students. Several students have died under mysterious circumstances or killed in targeted incidents that have fuelled fear within the community.
The Consulate identified the student as Rupesh Chandra Chintakindi, who has been missing from the 4300 block of N. Sheridan Rd, the Chicago Police said in a statement. The Consulate General of India in Chicago said it was in touch with the police and Indian diaspora to re-establish contact with Rupesh.
"The Consulate is deeply concerned learning that Indian student Rupesh Chandra Chintakindi is incommunicado since 2nd May. Consulate is in touch with the police and the Indian diaspora hoping to locate/reestablish contact with Rupesh," said the Indian Consulate-General in Chicago in a post on X.
On May 6, the Chicago police in a statement asked people to provide information to the police if they locate Rupesh. Kanukuntia Premkumar, who claimed to be Rupesh's brother, posted a series of tweets asking External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy and the Chicago Police to help find the missing student.
Premkumar also posted a hand-written letter to Reddy written by the student's father, saying the missing Rupesh was studying at Concordia University, Wisconsin, and was last in contact on May 2. Rupesh's relatives have also contacted his roommates but have been unable to get in touch and the police are not responding properly, as per the letter. G Kishan Reddy has also reached out to the Ministry of External Affairs to help trace the missing student at the earliest.
According to a report by Times of India, Rupesh's family is extremely worried over his abrupt disappearance. “He replied he was doing some work. Later on, I could not contact him and he is offline,” said Rupesh's father Ch Sadanandam, a resident of Hanamkonda district.
Indian deaths in the US
It is worth mentioning the latest report of killing came in a series of deaths and attacks on Indian students in the United States. In 2024 alone, over ten students were killed and several others faced severe attacks. Although the Indian government, on multiple occasions, asserted they were raising concerns with their counterparts, the killing spree has not stopped yet.
Most recently, Mohammed Abdul Arfath, who had been missing in the US since the beginning of the month, was found dead in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indian embassy in New York confirmed the news of his tragic death on X and assured the family members that it would coordinate with local agencies to secure a thorough investigation into Arfath’s death.
Although it did not mention any words about his parents in Hyderabad getting ransom calls, multiple media reported that the family members received a call from unidentified men who demanded a ransom of $1,200 which is roughly one lakh in Indian currency. In March, a 34-year-old trained classical dancer from India, Amarnath Ghosh, was shot dead in St Louis, Missouri. Sameer Kamath, a 23-year-old Indian-American student at Purdue University, was found dead in a nature preserve in Indiana on February 5.
On February 2, Vivek Taneja, a 41-year-old Indian-origin IT executive, suffered life-threatening injuries during an assault outside a restaurant in Washington. In January, 18-year-old Akul Dhawan, a University of Illinois student was found unresponsive outside a campus building. Investigations revealed that he died due to hypothermia, with authorities ruling that acute alcohol intoxication and prolonged exposure to extremely cold temperatures significantly contributed to his death.
(with PTI inputs)
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