Indian-origin IT executive dies after being assaulted in US
Washington (PTI): A 41-year-old Indian-origin IT executive has died after suffering life-threatening injuries during an assault outside a restaurant in the American capital here, the seventh death of an Indian or Indian-American in the country in recent months.
The victim, identified as Vivek Taneja, a resident of Alexandria, a Virginia suburb of Washington DC, was attacked on February 2 in the 1100 block of 15th Street NW, which is seven blocks away from the White House.
The police reached the assault scene at 2 am and found that he was suffering from life-threatening injuries as a result of the assault. He was transported to a trauma centre unconscious and with severe head injuries.
"On Wednesday, February 7, 2024, the victim succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead," said the Metropolitan Police, Washington DC in a statement on Friday.
The picture of the suspect captured by a surveillance camera has been released by the police, which has offered an award of up to USD25,000 to anyone who provides information and leads to his arrest.
No arrest has been made so far.
In its report, the police said Vivek Taneja was knocked to the ground by the suspect and hit his head on the pavement.
Taneja, the police said, had an altercation with another man at Shoto and Akedo, two sister Japanese restaurants in the Midtown Center building.
Taneja was the co-founder and president of Dynamo Technologies, a technology solutions and analytics product provider to the federal government.
According to the company website, Taneja led Dynamo's strategic, growth, and partnership initiatives, with an emphasis on the federal government contracting arena.
A systems engineer by training, he led numerous technical consulting engagements across the public and private sectors.
Taneja received his B.A. in Economics and Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Virginia, his M.S. in Telecommunications from George Mason University, and his D.Eng. in Engineering Management and Systems Engineering from George Washington University.
Earlier this week, Syed Mazahir Ali, an Indian student was attacked by robbers in Chicago.
Earlier, 25-year-old Indian student Vivek Saini was fatally attacked in Georgia state's Lithonia city by a homeless drug addict.
Last week, a student at the Lindner School of Business in the US state of Ohio identified as 19-year-old Shreyas Reddy Beniger was found dead. However, local authorities have ruled out foul play.
Sameer Kamath, a 23-year-old Indian-American student at Purdue University, was found dead in a nature preserve in Indiana on February 5.
Another Indian student, identified as Neel Acharya at Purdue University, Indiana, was confirmed dead days after being reported missing on January 28.
Akul B Dhawan, an 18-year-old at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was found dead last month with signs of hypothermia.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
