US crime: Indian student Chandrashekar Pole shot dead in Dallas; family seeks govt help to bring body home
PTC Web Desk: A 28-year-old Indian student, Chandrashekar Pole, was shot dead by an unidentified gunman at a gas station in Dallas, Texas, on Friday evening. The tragic incident comes barely a month after another Indian-origin man, Chandra Mouli Nagamallaiah, was brutally killed in the same city.
Chandrashekar Pole, a native of Hyderabad, had moved to the US in 2023 for higher education after completing his bachelor’s degree in dental surgery in India. He had recently finished his master’s degree in the US and was working part-time at the gas station while searching for a full-time opportunity.
The grieving family has appealed to the Indian government to help repatriate Pole’s mortal remains. BRS leaders T Harish Rao and Sudhir Reddy visited the family in Hyderabad on Saturday, assuring support.
Expressing shock over the killing, Rao wrote on social media: “The pain of parents who dreamt of their son’s success but are now facing this unbearable loss is heartbreaking. We urge the state government to take immediate steps to bring Chandrashekar’s body back to his hometown without delay.”
This tragedy follows last month’s gruesome incident in Dallas, where 50-year-old motel manager Chandra Mouli “Bob” Nagamallaiah was beheaded in front of his family. The attacker, identified as Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, a co-worker with a prior criminal record, was arrested and charged with capital murder.
Police investigations revealed the killing stemmed from a dispute over a broken washing machine at the Downtown Suites motel. Surveillance footage reportedly captured Cobos-Martinez retrieving a machete before launching the fatal attack, even as the victim’s wife and son tried to intervene.
The back-to-back incidents have raised concerns over the safety of Indians in Dallas, prompting demands for stronger measures to protect the diaspora.
- With inputs from agencies
