Indian student dies in Ohio after being abducted by ‘drug gang’
A student from India who had moved to the US last year was found dead days after going missing, New Delhi’s consulate in New York said on Tuesday.
Mohammed Abdul Arfath, a 25-year-old who was pursuing a Master’s degree in Management Information Systems at Cleveland State University in Ohio, went missing in March. Arfath hailed from Nacharam, a neighborhood of Hyderabad in the Indian state of Telangana.
Arfath’s father Mohammed Saleem informed Indian media that he last spoke to his son on March 7; after that, the victim’s phone was switched off. On March 19, the father received a call from an unidentified person who claimed that Arfath had been kidnapped by a gang selling drugs who demanded a $1,200 ransom.
The caller threatened to sell Arfath’s kidneys if the ransom wasn’t paid, his father told media.
@IndiainNewYork is in touch with the Mr. Mohammad Abdul Arfath’s family and authorities in the US. We are working with local law enforcement agencies to find him at the earliest. @DrSJaishankar@MEAIndia@IndianEmbassyUShttps://t.co/zbEzJSRFNN
— India in New York (@IndiainNewYork) March 20, 2024
Following the incident, the Indian consulate said it had gotten in touch with local law enforcement to find Arfath “at the earliest.” On Tuesday, the consulate informed that he had been found dead, adding that it is in touch with local agencies to ensure a thorough investigation into the grad student’s death.
The incident is only the latest in a chain of deaths among Indian students residing in the US over the past few months. Around a dozen incidents have been reported since the beginning of this year, although in some cases the cause of death was not established.
Last week, another Indian student, Uma Satya Sai Gadde, was declared dead in Cleveland, Ohio. The Consulate General of India in New York said that police were investigating the case. In March, classical dancer Amarnath Ghosh, 34, was shot and killed in St Louis, Missouri. The homicide investigation led by the St Louis Metropolitan Police Department is ongoing.
In January, 25-year-old Indian MBA graduate Vivek Saini was fatally attacked in Lithonia, Georgia by a homeless drug addict. Vivek was from India’s Haryana state and had previously provided the homeless man with food and shelter. Graphic footage of the murder showed the suspect, Juan Faulkner, hitting Saini with a hammer nearly 50 times.
The Global Hindu Heritage Foundation (GHHF), which has moved a petition seeking an independent investigation into the deaths by the FBI, listed 12 students who had died in the US, according to Times of India. Mint newspaper noted that 11 attacks involving Indian students have been reported in the US in 2024 alone.
The US remains a top destination for Indian students looking to pursue a higher education. More than 260,000 students went to the US for the 2022-2023 academic year, a 35% year-on-year jump, according to NDTV.
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