The incident took place on Thursday night inside an apartment at the Edward Gay complex in Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge. The victims, Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma (31) and Kiran Kumar Allam (33), were pursuing their Ph.D in biology and chemistry respectively.

Both students had been shot once in the head, according to Charles Zewe, a spokesman for the LSU System. Sergeant Don Kelly of Baton Rouge police department said they were looking for three black men who were seen hurriedly leaving the vicinity of the apartment where the murders occurred. “The men got into a small to mid-size four-door car, possiar, occupied by a fourth person (driver),” he said, adding that the car was seen leaving the complex with its headlights turned out.

The suspects involved in the home invasion, however, have not been identified. Therefore, university officials are urging the LSU community to use caution when moving around the campus. The LSU police department is serving as the lead law enforcement agency in a task force that has been put together to probe the incident. The task force includes the Baton Rouge Police Department, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office and Louisiana State Police, with assistance from the FBI. No new details of the investigation have been released.

In addition, there is a heightened security presence on campus, with law enforcement officials being more visible than usual at the Edward Gay Apartments and other housing units on the northwest portion of the campus. Anyone with any information pertaining to the crime, no matter how big or small, is asked to call LSU Police Department.

The Indian Consulate at Houston established contact with the university to ascertain more details “as soon as we were made aware of this heinous crime” yesterday morning, officials said. A two-member team, Consul K P Pillai from the Consulate General here and First Secretary Alok Pandey from the embassy in Washington, was dispatched by the Indian embassy to Louisiana State University to talk to the university authorities, police department and the Indian-American community to render all possible assistance.

Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen conveyed his deepest condolences to the family members of the victims of this tragedy and hopes that the culprits will be caught and have due justice meted out to them.

The LSU Indian Student Association has announced that it will be organising a memorial service in the Student Union Ballroom. LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe told reporters that at the request of the victims’ families, they will not release photos of the two graduate students.

The LSU Foundation has established the Komma and Allam Support Fund to assist the students’ families. Trained social workers and counsellors from the LSU Mental Health Service are available for family and friends of the victims and for any members of the LSU community.