'Don't know who killed him', says brother of Indian student from Hyderabad killed in Texas; Consulate assures support

Pole Chandrashekar

Brother of 27-year-old Chandrasekhar Pole, Polle Damodar, told CNN-News18 that his family does not know who killed Pole. Chandrasekhar Pole, an Indian student from Hyderabad, was shot dead in Texas on Saturday.

Damodar said, "We don't know who killed my brother." "We don't know the identity of the assailant," he said.

He also said that the footage of incident has not been shared with the family. The family was informed by the childhood friend of Pole, he said.

Official X account of the Consulate General of India in Houston posted on X confirming the death of the Indian student in Texas and said that it is in touch with his family and extending all possible assistance.

In the statement, it said that the local authorities are investigating the incident, and the Consulate General of India is following up closely with them.

"Consulate General of India, Houston, deeply condoles the tragic death of Mr. Chandrasekhar Pole, an Indian student from Hyderabad, who was killed in a shooting incident Denton, Texas. We are in touch with the family and extending all possible assistance. Local authorities are investigating the incident, and we are following up closely with them," the post read.

Media reports said that Pole was pursuing his Master’s in Dental Surgery in Texas and was shot dead by an unidentified man at a gas station, where he reportedly worked part-time.

MLAs Harish Rao and Sudheer Reddy met his family in Hyderabad and assured help to bring back the body, PTI reported.

NDTV reported that Pole had moved to the US in 2023 for higher studies after finishing his bachelor's in dental surgery back in Hyderabad. He had been looking for a full-time job while working part-time at the gas station after completing his master's degree in the US six months ago.

Rao called it a "tragic" incident and urged the government to take immediate steps to bring back Pole's body to his hometown.

In an online post, Rao said, "The pain that the parents are going through, knowing that their son, who they believed would reach great heights, is no more, is heart-wrenching to witness."

He added, "We, on behalf of BRS, demand that the state government take initiative and make efforts to bring Chandra Shekhar's mortal remains to his hometown as quickly as possible."

Expressing grief over the demise of the student, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family.

Assuring support to the family of the deceased, Revanth Reddy said his government would extend all cooperation to bring back the body.

Expressing concern over the incident, BRS MLA T Harish Rao said he and other party leaders visited the bereaved family here and offered condolences.

It is tragic that Chandrashekar, a Dalit student from LB Nagar here, died in the shooting incident, he said in a post on X.

Harish Rao, nephew of BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, urged the Telangana government to take steps to bring back the body of the deceased student.

In January this year, a 26-year-old student from Telangana, who was living in Connecticut in America, was allegedly shot dead by unidentified persons, while another man from Ranga Reddy district was found dead with bullet wounds in the US.

In September, a 30-year-old man from Mahabubnagar district died in California after allegedly being shot by police following a scuffle with his roommate.

With inputs from agencies