New York– The man accused of shooting two Indian techies and an American at a bar in Kansas last week had his first court appearance through video conference.
According to a report in CNN on Monday, Adam Purinton, 51, faces one charge of first-degree murder and two charges of attempted first-degree murder in last week’s shooting in Olathe that killed Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotlaone and injuring Alok Madasani and an American.
Post this shooting, there have been growing worries among Indians living in US about possible violence against foreign workers.
It is not clear yet what motivated Purinton to shoot the three men.
“Appearing in court via video conference, Purinton looked haggard and was soft-spoken. He was assigned a court-appointed attorney, and his bond remains set at $2 million. His next court date is March 9,” the report noted.
Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims and hurled racial slurs. He yelled “Get out of my country” and “terrorist” before shooting them.
Kuchibhotla hailed from Hyderabad while Madasani hails from Warangal town in Telangana. They were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.
Meanwhile, Kuchibhotla’s body arrived in Hyderabad and the last rites would be performed Tuesday at Jubliee Hills, family members said.
The mortal remains of the slain 32-year-old was flown in Monday night.
It was brought by a cargo flight, which arrived at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport around 10 p.m.
Kuchibhotla’s parents K. Madhusudhana Sastry and Parvata Vardhini and other family members received the body. After completing all formalities, the body was carried in an ambulance to his house at Bachupally on the city outskirts.
Kuchibhotla’s wife Sunayana Dumala, her brother, sister-in-law and another relative reached the city by a passenger flight.
Large number of relatives and friends gathered at the house to catch last glimpse of Kuchibhotla. Police were deployed to stop media persons away from the casket.
A picture of the slain engineer was kept in front of the house to enable people to pay their last respects. Few banners carrying pictures of Kuchibhotla were also put up.
Telangana Transport Minister Mahender Reddy and some leaders of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Andhra Pradesh’s Minister for NRI Affairs Palle Raghunath Reddy and leaders of various parties also paid their last respects to Kuchibhotla at his house.
Speaking on the occasion, the two Ministers condemned the killing of the techie and urged the central government to take up with the US the issue of safety of all Indians.
Raghunath Reddy said it was matter of concern that after Donald Trump took over as the President, several incidents of racial discrimination had taken place in the US.
He said the two Telugu states would do everything possible to ensure protection to their professionals and students living in the US.
The Ministry of External Affairs made arrangements to bring the mortal remains.
Police had made elaborate security arrangements at the airport to bar the media from the cargo terminal.
Kuchibhotla was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white man who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on Wednesday night.
