Indian victim in Virginia Tech shoot-out

Karattadipalayam (Tamil Nadu), Apr 17: The deadliest campus shoot-out at Virginia campus left this tiny village near Gobichettipalayam Town in gloom as it mourned the loss of one of its illustrious sons in the incident in the US.

Grief-stricken residents are waisting at the ancestral home of Vasudevan Loganathan (52), a professor at the Virginia Tech University who, was one of the 37 victims in the shoot-out yesterday.

He is survived by his wife and two daughters, all of them in the US.

Nostalgic about the 'son of the soil' who left for the US in 1977, they vividly recollected memories of 'Logu', as he was known to them.

People, especially those of his age, were in a state of shock, for they were awaiting his return in a year's time.

The slain professor's aged parents, Vasudevan, a retired District Revenue Officer, and Kannamal are unable to deal with the news of his death.

A pall of gloom has descended on the family. Relatives and friends have started gathering there on hearing the news.

Loganathan was planning to return to India in a year and engage himself in developmental activities, according to his younger brother V Palanivel, working with the TN Electricity Board.

His interests continued to be in developing and providing a thrust to science education in the country.

Family sources said they were exploring the options to bring the body to the native village for the funeral. A few members of the family have decided to leave for the US and they require the Government's assistance to get their travel documents cleared expeditiously.

UNI