US: 27-year-old Indian student shot dead at Texas gas station, family seeks repatriation

In a tragic incident, an Indian student was shot dead while working at a gas station in Texas, United States, on Thursday night. Chandrashekar Pole, a native of Hyderabad and a student at the University of North Texas, was killed by unidentified gunmen in Dallas.

Pole had moved to the US in 2023 for higher studies after completing his bachelor’s in dental surgery in Hyderabad. He had earned his master’s degree six months ago and was seeking a full-time job while working part-time at the gas station.

According to reports, Pole was shot by a person of African-American origin while on duty at a petrol station in Delton. The student’s family has appealed to the government to help bring his body back to India.

Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) MLA Sudhir Reddy and former Telangana Minister T Harish Rao, along with other party leaders, visited the family to offer condolences.

Harish Rao said, “It is tragic that Chandra Shekar Pole, a Dalit student from L B Nagar who completed BDS and went to America (Dallas) for higher studies, died in a shooting carried out by miscreants early morning." He urged the Telangana government to take steps to repatriate the body.

He added, “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. 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."

Earlier, another Indian-origin man from Telangana, 30-year-old Mohammed Nizamuddin, was shot dead by police in Santa Clara, California, US.