HYDERABAD: Hyderabad techie
Sharath Koppu
’s killer may have been shot dead by Kansas police, but that has failed to give any solace to the 25-year-old’s father, K Ram Mohan. He wants to know why his son was killed.
“I want to know why Sharath was targeted. I want to know what exactly transpired between the killer and my son. And for this, I want the Kansas City police to make public the entire surveillance camera footage at the place where my son was killed,” Ram Mohan told TOI on Monday.
“I am seeking answers because investigations will also reveal if other Indian students are also vulnerable and how it can be prevented. My son is dead. The killer is also dead. But, I need answers,” Ram Mohan, a BSNL employee, said.
He said the questions keep haunting him if his son was at fault or if the killer targeted his son by chance since he was around, or if targeting his son was intentional. And if so, for what was the reason.
“If the Kansas City police had caught him alive, interrogation would have led to answers. Was there no way the suspect could have been caught? I understand he fired at three policemen and they were injured, so police naturally decided to respond appropriately,” Ram Mohan said.
The Kansas City Police have released only a part of the surveillance footage, which showed the suspect pacing up and down the floor at J’s Fish and Chicken Market.
Ram Mohan also said that he had advised his son against taking up any part-time job. “He said he was doing it only to keep himself busy. He said it would be his last day at work there and he would not go back,” the BSNL employee said. “But that last day turned out to be the last day of his life,” he added.
This conversation had taken place just 12 hours before the incident.
Sharath’s father does not want police to close the case just because the suspect had been killed. He wanted to know if there were any security lapses at J’s Fish and Chicken Market. He wants to know if the Pakistani owner of the place had given him any tips on how Sharath could conduct himself if there was a robbery.
Sushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyde...
Read MoreSushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyderabad. He began his journalism career at the age of 20 in 1988. He is a gold medalist in journalism from the Department of Communication and Journalism, Arts College, Osmania University, Hyderabad from where he did his post-graduation from. He has been with The Times of India’s Hyderabad edition since its launch in 2000. He has also done an introductory course in film studies from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and also from the Central University of Kerala equipping himself with the knowledge of filmmaking for film criticism. He has authored four books. In his career spanning 34 years, he has worked for five newspapers and has also done television reporting. He was also a web journalist during internet’s infancy in the mid 1990s in India. He covers defence, politics, diaspora, innovation, administration, the film industry, Hyderabad city and Telangana state, and human interest stories. He is also a podcaster, blogger, does video reporting and makes documentaries.
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