Slain Indian engineer’s body being shipped home from US

WASHINGTON - The body of Akshay Vishal, an employee of fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services who was murdered in a robbery attempt in the US, is expected to be flown to India Saturday.

A consul from the Indian consulate in Houston has reached Little Rock, Arkansas, where the incident took place, to coordinate with the local authorities and complete the necessary paper work.

Vishal, 26, who came to the US from India, worked with Dessault Falcon Jet on behalf of Satyam. He was shot dead Tuesday in the seventh case of young students and professionals from Andhra Pradesh being killed in the US in last 14 months.

His neighbours said he lived with his girlfriend, who called the police after he was shot at by the assailant. A profusely bleeding Vishal was taken to hospital, where he later died.

Police in Little Rock Friday arrested a second suspect involved in a string of robberies and murders in the area after picking up 20-year-old Brandon Johnson late Thursday for the murder of Vishal and several other robberies.

Police believe the suspects had been targeting Hispanics in a string of 12 robberies. Investigators feel one more person could be involved, media reports said.

The second suspect, 31-year-old Shamar Womack, was arrested for a November robbery, but police did not say whether the two incidents were connected.

Johnson’s girlfriend, 22-year-old Victoria McCoy, also faces charges of fraudulent use of a credit car and theft by receiving.

The charges against ’strongly suspected’ Johnson also stem from the death of 24-year-old Eric Jarmin in a separate apartment robbery Tuesday.

Police said a search warrant served on a residence tied to Johnson resulted in the discovery of the wallets of Vishal and 24-year-old Eric Jarmin and a .380-caliber handgun believed to have been used in one or more of the murders.