Hyderabad: A 26-year-old environmental engineer in the US, Nakka Sai Charan, who promised to visit his home in Nalgonda by next month, was shot dead in Maryland state. The incident took place on Sunday and his parents received information on Tuesday night from his relatives.
At about 4.30 am on Monday, Maryland Transportation Authority Police were informed of a single-vehicle crash on southbound Interstate 95 near the Caton Avenue exit. Police visited the place and found Charan with a gunshot wound to his head and unconscious in his newly purchased car.
"Police immediately shifted Sai Charan to University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center where the doctors declared him was brought dead. The doctors found a gunshot injury on Sai Charan's head. A black man armed with a weapon reportedly opened fire at a car in which Sai Charan was driving alone. A case of homicide was registered and investigating the case," sources said. The incident took place when Sai Charan dropped his friend at the airport and was returning home.
In 2020, Sai Charan left for the USA for higher studies. After doing MS, he joined as a software engineer in a reputed company. "Three days ago, Charan called us and shared the good news that he had purchased a vehicle and he would come home by next month. We all are waiting for the arrival of my son but unfortunately, we will receive his body," his inconsolable father, Nakka Narsimha, a retired headmaster, said.
Six months ago, Sai Charan joined as an environmental engineer in Environ-Civil Engineering Ltd in Columbia, Maryland. The Nalgonda youth had done an internship at Wastewater Co-Op in Cincinnati city of Ohio. In 2019, Sai Charan finished his BE in civil engineering from Osmania University and did an internship in Megha Engineering and Infrastructure.
As sister Harika got married and settled in Arlington Heights in the USA, Sai Charan showed interest to pursue his higher education and doing a job even after his parents tried to persuade him against it as he was the only son in the family.
"Sai Charan was born when Harika was eight. We pampered him and encouraged him in education. We did not want him to go to the USA and asked him to find in India,” father Narasimha said. The family reconciled after he shifted abroad.
“On Saturday, we texted a message to Sai Charan but no response. We thought he was busy. Later, my relatives called us and informed us that Charan met an accident," said Narsimha.
The parents have demanded that the US authorities control gun culture in the USA. "Sai Charan had big dreams in his life but all these dreams were shattered," his father said.
Friends, relatives and family members rushed to Narsimha's residence located at New Raghavendra Colony in Nalgonda town. Local MLA Kancharla Bhoopal Reddy and Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy expressed their condolences to bereaved family members.
