Aaditya Adlakha, a 26-year-old Indian doctoral student died after being shot inside a car in the US state of Ohio. The incident was deemed “sudden, tragic, and senseless” by his medical university.
According to a statement from the medical school, Aaditya Adlakha was a fourth-year PhD student in the University of Cincinnati Medical School’s department in molecular and developmental biology, WXIX-TV said.
As per the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office, Adlakha passed away at the UC Medical Center earlier this month.
On November 9, Cincinnati Police Lt. Jonathan Cunningham said that on the upper deck of the Western Hills Viaduct, officers found a guy who had been shot inside a car that had collided with a wall.
Around 6:20 a.m., ShotSpotter, a gunfire locator service, detected shots in the vicinity, according to the police.
Passing motorists reported a shot person inside a car with bullet holes in it to 911, according to Cunningham.
After being taken to UC Medical Center, Adlakha was declared unstable and died two days later.
“You may have noticed news headlines about his untimely, awful, and sudden death today. It is reasonable and expected that people who knew Aaditya, as well as other students and those who may not have had the fortune to meet him, will react in different ways, according to Andrew Filak, senior vice president of health affairs and dean of the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine.
“He was a highly esteemed individual, renowned for his exceptional kindness and humor, acute intellect, and groundbreaking research. His research aimed to gain a deeper understanding of neuroimmune communication and the potential roles that neuroimmune interactions may play in ulcerative colitis pain and inflammation”, stated Filak to Cincinnati television station WLWT.com.
Are Indian students being targeted in US?
This isn’t the first of attacks that killed an Indian student in the U.S. An Indian Origin student Jude Chacko was killed in May 2023. Unidentified gunmen shot him as he was on his way home from work.
“The victim’s parents migrated to the US around 30 years ago from Kerala’s Kollam district,” stated the Khaleej Times.
The Columbus Division of Police earlier reported that on April 21, 2023, a 24-year-old student from Andhra Pradesh was shot and killed at a gas station in the United States.
Saiesh Veera, the victim’s name, was employed at an Ohio gas station. According to police, he was shot and killed while working by unknown attackers.
Along with releasing the suspect’s photo, the police also requested assistance in identifying the perpetrator.
In yet another disturbing incident, an Indian origin 20 year old Varin Manish Chheda was fatally stabbed by his Korean roommate Ji Min Sha in October, 2022, in the Purdue University of US state, Indianapolis.

Sha and Chheda lived at McCutcheon Hall on the West Lafayette campus of Purdue University.
According to the prosecution, Sha repeatedly stabbed Chheda in the head and neck with a folding knife that police located on the floor next to the chair where Chheda’s body was found.
Sha called authorities early on October 5, 2022, according to Purdue authorities Chief Lesley Wiete, to report that his roommate was dead in their dorm room.
Prosecutors claim that when Sha was apprehended, the officers saw that his clothing was stained with blood. Chheda died from “multiple sharp-force traumatic injuries,” according to an autopsy. Sha might spend 45 to 60 years in prison if found guilty, according to WFIU, a public radio station in Indiana.
The Police department doesn’t seem so appalled
On the evening of January 23, Jahanavi Kandula, a graduate student at Northeastern University, was hit by a patrol car while crossing the street.
Officer Daniel Auderer of the Seattle Police Department was seen talking about the deadly crash in a bodycam footage that went viral. “Yeah, just write a cheque — USD 11,000,” he can be heard saying. She had little value, and she was just 26.”

“We also recognize that our Indian student community, across all Northeastern campuses, has been especially impacted by this tragedy and its aftermath,” the university’s Chancellor’s office remarked in response to the horrific event. We hope that the ensuing investigations will result in some justice and accountability, and we stand in solidarity with you.”
According to the Chancellor’s office, events in support of Kandula will take place on campuses around the Northeast.
The leaders of the Seattle Police Union have become the subject of an investigation after an officer’s body camera footage showed him seeming to make light of the death of Jahanavi.
After responding to the South Lake Union area, where another officer, Kevin Dave, was operating a marked patrol vehicle when Auderer struck and killed Indian-origin lady Jahanavi Kandula, Auderer left his body camera on. The Seattle Police Department made available video from Officer Daniel Auderer’s body camera on Monday.
US Assures the Indian side
On September 13, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco described the occurrence as “deeply troubling” and urged the US authorities to launch a comprehensive inquiry.

The Seattle Community Police Commission (CPC) released a statement on Monday in response to the horrific video’s social media debut, describing the alleged police officer’s talk as “heartbreaking and shockingly insensitive.”
“The citizens of Seattle should expect more from their police force, which is tasked with protecting public safety and building community trust,” the CPC continued.
Senior Biden administration officials are said to have promised the Indian side quick action after India brought up the problem, according to a report by India’s news agency PTI.
The officials have reassured that the US authorities are, in fact, taking the problem seriously. According to the PTI report, the authorities expressed “shock” and “horror” over the occurrence and stated they are keeping an eye on the case’s development and the inquiry from Washington, DC, to make sure that responsibility is being carried out.
However, there is still a constant rise in crimes against the Indian community in the United States. Most of these carried out against students and workers of Indian origin. Even though the world is changing into newer aspects of technologies, is human race still falling behind the lines of origin, color, and community?
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