Indian student found dead in US, 11th this year

New Delhi, April 9

An Indian student in the US died an unnatural death after he could not be located for over a month. “Anguished to learn that Mohammed Abdul Arfath, for whom a search operation was underway, was found dead in Cleveland, Ohio. Our deepest condolences to his family,” posted the Indian consulate in New York on X without specifying the circumstances in which his body was found.

According to his father Mohammed Saleem, who had appealed to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for assistance, he last spoke to Arfath on March 7 and after that his mobile phone was switched off. Some days later, he received a call from a person who said Arfath had been kidnapped by a gang selling drugs and wanted $1,200 in ransom to release him.

On March 21, the Indian consulate in New York said it was coordinating with the local law enforcement authorities to locate Arfath.

Campus crime is rife in the US and Arfath’s death is the 11th of an Indian or Indian-origin student in the US this year. Uma Satya Sai Gadde, who studied in Cleveland, died last week and an investigation is underway to ascertain the cause of the death, said the Indian consulate. The Indian mission in Washington does not have a full-time Ambassador three months after the retirement of Taranjit Singh Sandhu.