23-year-old Indian student Nitheesha Kandula missing in US

Kandula 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.

ByPTI

Published Jun 03, 2024 | 1:14 PM Updated Jun 03, 2024 | 1:14 PM

Nitheesha Kandula

A 23-year-old Indian student has been missing in the US state of California since last week and police have sought the public’s help in finding her, 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 28 May, according to the police.

She was last seen in Los Angeles and was reported missing on 30 May, 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.

Kandula 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.”

Also Read: Missing Hyderabad student found dead in the US

Previous missing cases

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 Master 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 5 February.

On 2 February, 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.

Also Read: Hyderabad student goes ‘missing’ in the US; family receives ‘ransom’ call

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