Indian student charged with family members' triple murder in US
New York, Nov 29: A 23-year-old Indian student has been arrested and charged for allegedly murdering his grandparents and uncle inside a New Jersey condominium, police and US media reports said.
Om Brahmbhatt is accused of shooting Dilipkumar Brahmbhatt, 72, Bindu Brahmbhatt, 72, and Yashkumar Brahmbhatt, 38, the South Plainfield Police Department and the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.
Officers responded to the home on Coppola Drive off New Durham Road in South Plainfield around 9 am on Monday after a neighbour reported hearing shots fired at the Traditions condo complex, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office said in a press release.
After arriving, officers found three people two men and a woman who had suffered gunshot wounds.
Married couple Dilipkumar and Bindu Brahmbhatt were found shot to death in the second-floor apartment, police said. Their son, Yashkumar Brahmbhatt, was also found to have suffered multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to the hospital, where he died.
A suspect was taken into custody for questioning at the scene and later charged. Om was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and second-degree weapon possession. Om, hailing from Gujarat, resided with the victims and was found at the residence when authorities arrived at the scene.
Om had just moved to New Jersey within the past couple of months, sources said and had been living at the condo, NBC New York reported.
He was taken to the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center pending a pre-trial detention hearing; it wasn't immediately clear whether he had an attorney and a listed number for him couldn't be found.
According to the complaint, the crime was committed with a handgun Om says he purchased online. Om had a seemingly calm demeanour during Tuesday's court appearance. Police say he was the one who called 911 that morning and when asked about who did it, officials say Om stated, "It might be me".
It was not clear what led up to the shooting. A neighbour told NBC New York that it wasn't the first time police had been called to the condo.
"I didn't really know them, I just know one time the police were there for a domestic violence call," said neighbour Jim Short, who lives upstairs from the unit where the three people were found dead. "Can happen anywhere but it is really creepy, it's right downstairs."
The Traditions apartment complex, home to many young families who emigrated from India, is equipped with dozens of security cameras that neighbours hoped could help police.
"There's cameras all over and there are cameras coming in and out of the complex and every building has cameras outside and inside the breezeway. So hopefully that can help," said another neighbour, Victor Orozco.
An investigation led by the South Plainfield Police Department is ongoing. Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to call town police or the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.
An investigation by South Plainfield Detective Thomas Rutter and Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office Detective Javier Morillo determined that there was no threat to the public and this was not a random act of violence, according to the prosecutor's office.
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Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
