An Indian student who has been missing since March this year has been found dead in the US state of Ohio, the Consulate General of India in New York said on Tuesday.
The Consulate said it is “anguished” to learn about the death of Mohammed Abdul Arfath and is in touch with local authorities to ensure a thorough investigation into his death.
“Anguished to learn that Mr. Mohammed Abdul Arfath, for whom search operation was underway, was found dead in Cleveland, Ohio. Our deepest condolences to Mr Mohammed Arfath’s family, the Consulate General of India in New York said in a post on X.
Anguished to learn that Mr. Mohammed Abdul Arfath, for whom search operation was underway, was found dead in Cleveland, Ohio.
— India in New York (@IndiainNewYork) April 9, 2024
Our deepest condolences to Mr Mohammed Arfath’s family. @IndiainNewYork is in touch with local agencies to ensure thorough investigation into Mr… https://t.co/FRRrR8ZXZ8
It said that all possible assistance is being extended to the bereaved family to transport his mortal remains to India.
Arafat, a native of Hyderabad, went to the US for his Master’s degree in IT from Cleveland University in May 2023 but was missing since March 7 this year.
His father, Mohd Saleem, said that after ten days, they received a phone call from an unidentified person who claimed Arafat had been kidnapped and demanded a USD 1200 ransom for his release.
On March 21, the Consulate General of India in New York said they are in touch with Arfath’s family and authorities in the US to find him.
“@IndiainNewYork is in touch with Mr. Mohammad Abdul Arfath’s family and authorities in the US. We are working with local law enforcement agencies to find him at the earliest,” the Consulate General of India in New York posted on X.
🚨 25-year-old Hyderabad student, Abdul Mohammed, who went to the US in 2023 for Master's at Cleveland University in US goes missing, father gets call to pay ransom of $1200. @DrSJaishankar @IndianEmbassyUS pic.twitter.com/dawzjCZD0a
— Indian Tech & Infra (@IndianTechGuide) March 20, 2024
It had made the statement on X in response to a post that mentioned that a 25-year-old Hyderabad student had gone missing and his father received a call to pay a ransom of USD 1200. Recently the Indian community has seen a rise in such tragedies.
Mysterious death of Indians in US
Earlier on 5th April, it was reported that an Indian student named Uma Satya Sai Gadde died in the US state of Ohio. The cause of death remains unknown.
A 23-year-old engineering student at Boston University, Paruchuri Abhijit, was found dead in an abandoned car on 11th March this year. He hailed from the Burripalem in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. Abhijit is believed to have been murdered by unidentified assailants.
On 27th February, Indian dancer Amarnath Ghosh was murdered by unidentified men while he was out in the St Louis Academy neighbourhood.
On 2nd 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.
A day earlier, Shreyas Reddy Beningeri, who had been pursuing a graduate degree from Lindner School of Business, died in Ohio.
One Neel Acharya, an Indian student pursuing a double master’s at the Purdue University in Indiana, went missing on 31st January. Later, his dead body was recovered by the police.
Earlier on 20th January, Akul Dhawan, an 18-year-old Indian-American student, was found dead near the University of Illinois. He reportedly froze to death after being denied entry into a nightclub.
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 16th this year.
Two students named Nikesh and Gattu Dinesh were found dead in their room in Connecticut in the United States on 14th January 2024. They were students of the Sacred Heart University and believed to have died due to ‘carbon monoxide poisoning’.
Besides the 11 cases of mysterious death, an Indian student named Sameer Kamath committed suicide on 5th February while another student named Venkataramana Pittala died in a jet-ski accident.
(With inputs from ANI)
