Indian-American IT professional killed family before committing suicide: Police
Washington, Jun 18: A 44-year-old Indian-American IT professional killed his wife and two minor sons before committing suicide with a gun inside their home in the US state of Iowa, according to the police.
The West Des Moines Police Department, which is probing the case, came to this conclusion after forensic autopsies were conducted on Sunday.
The family of four was found dead under mysterious circumstances with gunshot wounds, shocking the community.
The bodies of Chandrasekhar Sunkara, Lavanya Sunkara, 41, their 15-year-old and a 10-year-old sons were found in their home on Saturday morning.
"The manners of death for Lavanya Sunkara and the two boys are homicide. The manner of death for Chandrasekhar Sunkara is suicide," the police said in a statement.
"The State Medical Examiner's Office has determined the causes of death for all four family members to be gunshot wounds," they said.
The State Medical Examiner's Office has determined the causes of death for all four family members to be gunshot wounds.
"Officials are working with surviving family members to provide support. Investigators are continuing to review evidence and conduct interviews," the police added.
Chandrasekhar, known as Chandra, hailed from Andhra Pradesh.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) said he was an IT professional in the Technology Services Bureau for the department.
"Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the Sunkaras," the DPS said in a statement.
Officers with the West Des Moines Police Department were sent on Saturday morning to the 900 block of 65th Street, where they found the bodies.
"This tragedy will impact family, friends, co-workers, anyone that knew this family," Sergeant Dan Wade said in a statement.
"We are continuing to work through this investigation. We will follow through until we have answered as many questions as the evidence allows. We are confident, though, that there is no continuing threat to the community," Wade said.
Police said other family members, two adults and two children, were staying in the home as guests. When the bodies were discovered, one of the relatives ran outside looking for help and found a passerby, who called 911.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is assisting in the investigation.
"You don't see something like this happen in the Indian community, let alone a heinous act like this," said Shrikar Somayajula who has known the Sunkaras for over a decade.
"The family was a very friendly family and so it is really painful," said Somayajula.
"We have more questions than answers now as to why this happened and we will probably never find out why this happened," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Iran reimposes restrictions on Strait of Hormuz, accusing US of violating deal to reopen it
Cairo (AP): Iran swiftly reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway on Saturday after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iran-linked shipping.
Iran's joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces.” It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
The announcement came the morning after US President Donald Trump said that even after Iran announced the strait's reopening on Friday, the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear programme.
The conflict over the chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday on hopes the US and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement. Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the strait, and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again.
Control over the strait has proven to be one of Iran's main points of leverage and prompted the United States to deploy forces and initiate a blockade on Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war that has raged between Israel, the US and Iran.
Iran said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. But after Trump said the blockade would continue, top Iranian officials said his announcement violated last week's ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and warned the strait would not stay open if the US blockade remained in effect.
A data firm, Kpler, said movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran's approval.
US forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said on X.
Truce in Lebanon could help US-Iran peace efforts
------------------------------------------------------------
The ceasefire in Lebanon could clear one major obstacle to an agreement. But it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would abide by a deal it did not play a role in negotiating, and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.
Trump said in another post that Israel is “prohibited” by the US from further strikes on Lebanon and that “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defence.
Shortly before Trump's post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon “at the request of my friend President Trump,” but that the campaign against Hezbollah is not complete.
He claimed Israel had destroyed about 90 per cent of Hezbollah's missile and rocket stockpiles and added that Israeli forces “have not finished yet” with the dismantling of the group.
In Beirut, displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.
The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.
An end to Israel's war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking last week's ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel had said that the deal did not cover Lebanon.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.
