Indian student shot dead in US during store robbery

HOUSTON: A 22-year-old Indian hailing from Andhra Pradesh was shot dead early on Christmas morning during a robbery at a convenience store where he was working part time as a clerk.

Jayachandra Elaprolu was shot five times and was found dead when the police arrived on to the scene.

The tragic incident occurred in Pasadena county of California state on early Christmas morning.

Police said they are now seeking at least two suspects in the shooting death, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Elaprolu was a student and was working at the convenience store part time.

Ali Kahn, a manager at the store said Elaprolu was from India and had been working at the store for less than a month.

A video of the CCTV footage obtained by the police showed a man in a ski mask entering the Conoco gas station at about 2:20 am (local time), before shooting the clerk and taking away the cash register.

Pasadena police spokesman Bud Corbett said the victim was shot five times.

Police distributed surveillance video from the store to local media outlets in an attempt to find witnesses, the paper said.

As the assailant confronted him, Elaprolu managed to get behind a door that led to a small office behind the counter, but he appears to have been shot through the door, according to police.

Media reports said Elaprolu was studying computers at college and had been working at the gas station for only three weeks.

Corbett said investigators were surprised by the ferocity of the gunman who appears to walk in with a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol in hand and starts shooting.

"To actually see the suspect enter a store and engage in gunfire is a unique circumstance... He's a very violent individual, and the sooner we apprehend him, the better," he said.

While the shooter is described as a 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall man between 220 and 250 pounds, police have named another person who was seen leaving the store seconds before the shooting incident.

Police said the second man, who did not appear to be having a weapon, could either be an accomplice of the attacker or a witness to the case.

The video showed the gunman pulling the cash register off the counter and hauling it out, snapping an attached cord as he left.

A woman who entered the store about a minute and half after the incident found the clerk hit by bullets and she called the police.

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Chinese, Indian leaders call for enhanced friendship - Xinhua

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao addresses the celebration activities of the 60th anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and India, in New Delhi, India, Dec. 16, 2010. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

NEW DELHI, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday called for continuous efforts to enhance the friendly relations between the two countries.

"In the past 60 years, China and India have overcome various difficulties in making strides forward and have gained rejuvenation," said Premier Wen when attending the celebration activities of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and India and the closing ceremony of the "Festival of China 2010 in India."

Wen said that both sides have upheld the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence which they initiated together, sought good neighborliness, treated each other equally and worked for cooperation of mutual benefits, adding that these are the precious experiences obtained in the development of bilateral ties in more than half a century.

The Chinese premier called on both sides to carry on the friendship generation after generation despite changes on the world arena and difficulties that may lie ahead.

Wen stressed both China and India are in a key period of development, and that they should enhance political and strategic mutual trust, expand pragmatic cooperation in economy, trade and science and technology, strengthen coordination in regional and international affairs, upgrade the status and influence of developing nations, so as to make greater contributions to building a harmonious world featuring lasting peace and common prosperity.

The premier meanwhile expressed his gratitude to the people on both sides who have worked hard for the success of the Festival of China in India, and wished the Indian people happiness and healthiness in the coming new year.

When addressing the ceremony, Singh said China is India's biggest neighbor, and that it is a consistent diplomatic objective of India to develop ties with China.

He also hailed the China-India cooperation as a cornerstone for a century of Asia, saying it also has global and strategic significance.

China and India are friends, not rivals, and there is enough room in the world for China and India to develop at the same time, Singh said.

He added that the two countries should jointly enhance exchanges and cooperation in a bid to make new achievements in the China-India strategic and cooperative partnership.

Wen arrived here Wednesday for a three-day official visit at the invitation of Singh.

Special Report: Premier Wen Visits India, Pakistan

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Maid alleges rape by Indian diplomat

NEW DELHI: A 21-year-old maidservant of the ex-Indian deputy high commissioner of Kenya, Ketan Shukla, has alleged that she was repeatedly raped for three years while she was employed by him in Kenya. The woman, Geet (name changed), has alleged that she had accompanied Shukla, his wife and two children to Kenya in Feb 2007 after they had asked her to work as their maidservant there.

Delhi Police on Thursday said they had received the complaint at the Moti Nagar police station and were investigating it.''We have registered a case under IPC sections 376 ( rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) at the Moti Nagar police station after preliminary investigations found merit in the complaint. We have arranged for a medical examination of the woman and expect the report soon,'' said DCP (west) Sharad Aggarwal.

Meanwhile, the NCW has sought an action taken report from the MEA and Delhi Police on allegations of sexual exploitation, harassment, torture, threats and charges of withholding of salary by the victim. The victim came to the NCW office on Friday morning to submit a copy of her complaint following which the commission shot off a letter to the MEA. When contacted, cops denied they had been approached by the NCW. Reacting to the complaint, NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said it was a very serious matter and based on the ATR, the commission would initiate further action in accordance with law.

Talking to TOI, the victim said the torture began within three months of her arrival at Kenya. ''After the first couple of months went smoothly, he started making advances towards me and forced himself on me on several occasions. Since I was in an alien country and all my documents including my passport were in his possession, I was helpless. Moreover, he had warned me against making any complaints. Even after I tried approaching a few other Indian families living in the same area for help, the families were too scared to take any action.'' Geet belongs to a village in Jharkhand.

When TOI tried to contact Shukla, the calls went unanswered. However, he told a TV channel that he was being ''unnecessarily dragged into a fabricated case.'' Both Shukla and his wife are posted in Ahmedabad at present.

The victim is reluctant to undergo a medical test and maybe called again on Saturday.

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Debate on floor of House, govt will respond: Pranab to Oppn - Indian Express

Ruling out a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday appealed to the Opposition parties to let Parliament function so that a debate on the issue could take place.

"I have requested them (Opposition) to come back to the House and let the whole issue be debated in Parliament.

Let them say whatever they want to say on the floor of the house and the government will respond," he told reporters here.

"As soon as the CAG (on the 2G spectrum) report came, the matter was referred to PAC. It is a permanent JPC having members from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Therefore, PAC itself is the JPC. I don't understand why the JPC should be there," he said.

Mukherjee said it is the constitutional responsibility of the PAC to examine the report of the CAG.

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