Who was 26-year-old Indian PhD student shot dead inside car in US?

In the United States, there has been yet another attack on an Indian. A student pursuing PhD at the University of Cincinnati Medical School was shot dead in his car in Ohio. Aaditya Adlakha, 26, succumbed to his injuries two days after he was discovered with several gunshot wounds inside a vehicle that had slammed into a wall in Western Hills, a neighbourhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 9 November. The medical university that he attended described the incident as “sudden, tragic and senseless”. What led to Adlakha’s death and what do we know about him? Vehicle hit several times, three bullet holes in the car Aaditya Adlakha was a fourth-year doctoral student in the molecular and developmental biology programme at the University of Cincinnati Medical School. According to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office, he died earlier this month at the UC Medical Centre. On the day of the incident (9 November), Cincinnati police found Adlakha’s injured body inside the car that crashed into a wall on the upper deck of the Western Hills Viaduct. It was hit multiple times and there were at least three bullet holes visible in the driver’s side window. According to reports, Cincinnati police discovered Adlakha shot inside the vehicle after ShotSpotter, a gunfire-locater service, detected the mishap in the area around 6.20 am. Drivers who passed by called 911 to report a vehicle that had bullet holes in it with a person inside who had been shot. [caption id=“attachment_13424922” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] According to reports, Cincinnati police discovered Adlakha shot inside the vehicle after ShotSpotter detected gunfire in the area at approximately 6.20 am. Image Courtesy: @OmkaraRoots/X[/caption] Aaditya Adlakha was rushed to UC Medical Centre where he was in critical condition and was pronounced dead two days later. No arrests have been made since the shooting was reported, local media reports said. ‘An intelligent student’ The incident shocked many. University officials and peers mourned Adlakha’s untimely demise, describing him as a beloved, intelligent, and dedicated student in the molecular and developmental biology programme. He was well-known for his groundbreaking study on neuroimmune communication and its relevance to diseases such as ulcerative colitis. “Today, you might have seen news reports of his sudden, tragic and senseless death. Those who knew him, along with fellow students and others who may not have had the fortune to have met Aaditya, may experience a wide variety of reactions, which are understandable and expected,” Senior Vice President of Health Affairs and Dean, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Andrew Filak said. “He was much-loved, exceedingly kind and humorous, intelligent and sharp, whose research was described as novel and transformative. The focus of his work was to better understand neuroimmune communication and how neuroimmune interactions might contribute to pain and the inflammatory landscape in ulcerative colitis.” Filak was quoted as saying by WLWT.com, a television station in Cincinnati. Aaditya Adlakha came to Cincinnati from north India to continue his education in medicine. He secured a bachelor’s degree in Zoology in 2018 from Ramjas College of the University of Delhi in New Delhi. He received his master’s degree in physiology in 2020 from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, also in New Delhi. “As a college and as Aaditya’s academic home, we extend our deepest condolences to his family and to those who knew him as a friend and colleague,” the Cincinnati Enquirer quoted the medical school as saying. The death of Adlakha comes days after that of another Indian student who died after a stabbing incident in October. Varun Raj Pucha was stabbed with a knife by 24-year-old Jordan Andrade at a public gym in Indiana’s Valparaiso city on 29 October. He died days later. Andrade was a fellow gymgoer who reportedly found Pucha “a little weird”. With inputs from PTI