23-year-old Indian student in US missing, police seek public's help

Houston: Police in the US have sought the public’s help in finding 23-year-old Indian student who has been missing in California since last week.

This is the latest case in the country as the community grapples with a string of such incidents involving students.

Nitheesha Kandula, a California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) student, went missing on May 28, according to the police.

She was last seen in Los Angeles and was reported missing on May 30, John Guttierez, Chief of Police, CSUSB, said in a post on X on Sunday.

“#MissingPersonAlert: California State University, San Bernardino Police along with our partners in #LAPD, is asking anyone with information on the whereabouts of @CSUSBNews Nitheesha Kandula, to contact us at: (909) 537-5165,” the police said.

Kandhula was described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, and around 160 pounds (72.5 kgs) in weight with black hair and black eyes, police said in a written statement.

She was possibly driving a 2021 Toyota Corolla with a California license plate, the colour of which was unknown, according to the statement.

Urging people with information on her whereabouts to contact authorities, police said, “Anyone with information is urged to contact the CSUSB Police Department at (909) 538-7777, or the LAPD’s Southwest Division at (213) 485-2582.” Last month, 26-year-old Rupesh Chandra Chintakind, an Indian student was reported missing in Chicago.

Earlier in April, a 25-year-old Indian student missing since March was found dead in the US city of Cleveland. Mohammad Abdul Arfath, hailing from Nacharam, Hyderabad, arrived in the US last year in May to pursue a Masters in IT from Cleveland University.

In March, a 34-year-old trained classical dancer from India, Amarnath Ghosh, was shot dead in St Louis, Missouri.

Sameer Kamath, a 23-year-old Indian-American student at Purdue University, was found dead in a nature preserve in Indiana on February 5.

On February 2, Vivek Taneja, a 41-year-old Indian-origin IT executive, suffered life-threatening injuries during an assault outside a restaurant in Washington.

In January, 18-year-old Akul Dhawan, a University of Illinois student was found unresponsive outside a campus building. Investigations revealed that he died due to hypothermia, with authorities ruling that acute alcohol intoxication and prolonged exposure to extremely cold temperatures significantly contributed to his death.

PTI with edits