US cops shoot dead Indian techie; family alleges racial harassment, seeks help to bring back body

PTC News Desk: A 29-year-old man from Telangana’s Mahabubnagar district was shot dead by police in the United States following a reported altercation with his roommate, his family said on Thursday.

The deceased, Mohammed Nizamuddin, a software engineer in California, was allegedly killed by Santa Clara Police on September 3. His father, Mohammed Hasnuddin, said that he came to know of the incident through one of his son’s friends. He added that the dispute with the roommate was over a trivial issue and that he only received word of the shooting on Thursday morning.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Hasnuddin appealed for help in bringing his son’s body back to Mahabubnagar. “I do not know the actual reasons why police shot him dead,” he wrote, urging Indian officials in Washington and San Francisco to step in. Amjed Ullah Khan, spokesperson of the Majlis Bachao Tahreek (MBT), also highlighted the family’s appeal and called for government intervention.

What US police said

According to Santa Clara Police, officers opened fire on a man after he allegedly stabbed his roommate at a residence on Eisenhower Drive. Police said they responded around 6:18 am on September 3 and found the suspect armed with a knife. He was taken to a hospital, where he was later declared dead. The injured roommate is currently under treatment.