Abhijit Mahato completed his mechanical engineering degree from Jadavpur University in 2001 and an M.Tech from the Indian Institute for Technology (IIT) in Kanpur in 2004. He then worked at the GE Research center in Bangalore for two years, focusing his research on computer simulation techniques.Like so many other desi kids, he decided to complete his PhD from a university in the USA.Abhijit’s mother, Arati , did not want him to go the US. Yet, she must have felt proud when he was accepted into the PhD program at the Duke University in North Carolina at the Pratt school of engineering
Sadly, what definitely would have been a bright future was cut short when Abhijit was brutally gunned down in his off campus apartment.( tip: spee).His body was discovered on Friday. Abhijit’s death became a grim statistic – he is the third Indian Ph D student to die asa result of a violent crime , after the deaths of Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma, 31, and Kiran Kumar Allam, 33 in LSU last month.
Abhijit’s advisor Tod Laursen described him :
“”He made friends very easily and always had a smile on his face,” Laursen said. “Our research team was particularly close to Abhijit. He was very well read in both poetry and literature, and enjoyed conversation with others about what they were reading.”
Abhijit’s mother is in a state of shock and his father ,Sitaram Mahato is trying to make arrangements to get his body sent back in India . In hindsight, it seems sinister that Abhjit had complained earlier to his father (link)
Once, Abhijit had mentioned that some local hoodlums in the area often asked him for money and he always paid up.
The police have begun the investigation and have ruled out gang violence. ( link)
Detectives and crime-scene technicians spent the early morning hours of Saturday combing the spot and found “some clues”, media reports said. The police chief of Durham, Jose Lopez, has been quoted in local reports as saying that the crime is not believed to be related to “gang violence”.
We at UD offer our condolences to Abhijit’s family and friends and hope that this terrible crime is solved.
Update: The Durham police have filed murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon charges against Stephen Lavance Oates Jr (19). Oates was arrested by the police after a short chase Tuesday night. Police were pursuing a vehicle carrying Oates, William Dozia Smith, (20), along with two 14-year-olds in connection with an armed robbery.Robbery is also beleived to be the motive for Mahato’s murder.
Update 2: A second person Lawrence Alvin Lovette Jr., 17, has been charged in Abhihit’s death. Lovette is also the low-life responsible for the death of the UNC student body president Eve Carson.(link) What kind of world do we live in where a 17 year old kills for money ?
Looks like you are one of our regular visitors. Here is our RSS feed, just another way to keep up with the new posts.
Loading ...