On Wednesday (7th February), a 41-year-old Indian-origin man named Vivek Taneja succumbed to his injuries after being grievously assaulted by an unidentified man in downtown Washington in the United States.
As per reports, Taneja was attacked at around 2’o o’clock in the night outside the Shoto restaurant on the 1100 block of 15th Street Northwest in Washington. The incident took place on 2nd February this year.
SUSPICIOUS CRITICAL INJURIES: 1100 block of 15th St NW in #DowntownDC— the patient was transported to a trauma center unconscious & with severe head injuries after a reported fall. Now DFS was called out for an aggravated assault investigation at the same address. @alanhenney pic.twitter.com/ghIupzpKhw
— DMV News Live (@DCNewsLive) February 2, 2024
When the cops reached the site of crime, they found the victim on the pavement. Vivek Taneja was thereafter rushed to the hospital in a critical condition.
Reportedly, the Indian-origin man and an unidentified person were involved in a heated argument outside the Shoto restaurant, post which the former was mercilessly assaulted.
After being knocked to the ground, Taneja hit his head on the pavement and became unconscious. He succumbed to his injuries five days later i.e. 7th February 2024 at the hospital.
DC Police just released this video of a person of interest in the case of a man assaulted outside Shoto Restaurant on 15th Street NW on Friday at 2am.
— Spencer Allan Brooks (@SpencerSays) February 9, 2024
41-year-old Vivek Taneja of Alexandria was seriously injured. He passed away Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/DgwLyQms8y
The cops are now probing the case as a homicide.’ The police have released the picture of a suspect caught on a surveillance camera. They are seeking public assistance in apprehending the man.
As per a report by Crunchbase, Vivek Tanjena was the President/co-founder of Dynamo Technologies and led the company’s strategic, growth, and partnership initiatives”.
He graduated from George Mason University in Virginia and lived in Alexandria. The Indian man is now survived by his wife and his children.
Attacks on Indians continue unabated in the US
This is the 6th death of an Indian/ Indian-origin man in the United States this year. Recently, a 23-year-old Indian student Sameer Kamath was found dead in Warren County in Indiana. He was a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering at Purdue University.
Shreyas Reddy, who was a student at the Linder School of Business, was also found dead in Cincinnati in Ohio. But, the cause of his death remains unknown.
Before him, Vivek Saini and Neel Acharya were also found dead in the same week. Notably, Neel Acharya was also a student at the Purdue University. His body was found at the campus on January 30.
Another Indian student Vivek Saini was brutally killed with repeated blows from a hammer by a homeless man inside a store in Lithonia, Georgia, US on January 29.
Earlier on January 20, Akul Dhawan, an 18-year-old Indian-American student, was found dead near the University of Illinois.
In the wake of recent incidents involving the deaths of Indian students in the United States, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti reassured that Washington is committed to make sure that United States remains a safe destination for Indian students.
