A former Cognizant employee in India has recently been identified as the prime suspect in the 2017 stabbing of an Indian woman and her six-year-old son inside their apartment in New Jersey, US. The breakthrough came eight years later when DNA recovered from his company-issued laptop allegedly matched a blood sample found at the crime scene. The suspect, Nazeer Hameed, was fired after the murders came to light.
The incident happened on March 23, 2017, when Hanumantha “Hanu” Narra returned home around 9 pm to a scene described by police as “the most brutal” they had encountered. His wife, Sasikala Narra, 38, and their son, Anish, 6, were found stabbed to death inside their apartment, CBS News reported. Both victims bore defensive wounds, suggesting they fought back.
"I was in shell shock," Hanu told NOIX LIFE, a YouTube channel that covers events with connections to India.
Authorities quickly ruled him out as a suspect. “He has not been charged with a crime. His movements are not restricted in any way by the criminal justice system,” Joel Bewley of the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office told CBS News at the time.
How the case turned
Investigators focused on a blood sample at the scene that did not belong to either victim or Hanu. Years of leads eventually pointed to Hameed, a fellow employee at Cognizant Technologies in New Jersey, where Hanu also worked.
Hameed lived within walking distance of the Narra family’s apartment and did not own a car while in the US on a work visa. Detectives allege he had been following the family for “a significant time” before the murders. Soon after the killings, Hameed fled to India but remained employed with the tech giant.
Digital trail and DNA match
Investigators believe Hameed leveraged his tech expertise to erase traces of his involvement and conceal his criminal history. Initial requests for his blood sample went unanswered. The turning point came when authorities seized his company-issued laptop, which the tech giant shipped back to the US. Forensic teams extracted DNA from the device, which prosecutors say matched the unidentified blood sample from the crime scene.
Police try to extradite Hameed
Lieutenant Brian Cunningham of the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said the motive remains unclear. “Based on the circumstances, there was a personal vendetta against Hanu Narra,” he noted.
The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office is working with the US Department of Justice to extradite Hameed. “We’re confident we’ll get him back to the United States,” Cunningham told Fox 29.
The story has been updated following inputs from Cognizant.
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