20-yr-old Indian-American shot dead in US

Washington, Apr 14: A 20-year-old Indian-American has been shot dead in Fremont, California, sending shock waves in the community.

Rohit Sharma, who migrated to the US from Jalandhar along with his parents some seven years ago, was shot in the head while standing in a driveway of his apartment complex in Fremont, California on April 5, police said.

He was pronounced dead at Regional Medical Center of San Jose. The reason for his killing is not clear yet. The Fremont Police this week released the sketch of a suspect, who has been described as a black male in his 20's, wearing white t-shirt and earings in both ears. Rahul was working toward his GED at the Fremont school district's Adult and Continuing Education programme.

"My son was a good boy who wanted to go to school and do good things," said his mother, Davinder Sharma, in an emailed statement from the family to the Jan Jose Mercury News.

His services were held yesterday. Rahul was living with his parents Pran Sharma, mother Davinder Sharma, two sisters Mehak (18) and Deepti (22) and a one-year-old brother.

In a statement, the North American Punjabi Association condemned the murder and demanded a high-level inquiry into it.

Association president Satnam Singh Chahal said that racial discrimination towards the Punjabi community exists throughout the US and people from the community were facing racial discrimination and such attacks there every day.

PTI