Saiesh Veera, the 24-year-old Telugu student from Eluru in Andhra Pradesh who was shot dead by thieves in the United States on Thursday, wanted to settle down there and give his family a good life.
However, his dream came crashing down after the Master's degree student succumbed to gunshot wounds suffered at a fuel station where he was working part time in the US state of Ohio.
According to police in Ohio, the incident occurred in Columbus division on Thursday morning around 12 am.
"On April 20, 2023, at 12.50 AM, Columbus Police officers were dispatched to the 1000 block of W Broad St on a reported shooting. Upon arrival, the officers located an adult male victim, identified as SAIESH VEERA, M/O/24, suffering from a gunshot wound," the police said in a notification.
Columbus fire services personnel arrived and transported the victim to a local hospital. Despite life-saving measures, the victim was pronounced dead at 1.27 am, they said, even as the incident remains under investigation and the next of kin have been informed, the police added.
Veera came to the US, the first in his family, with many aspirations and wanted to uplift his family as his father had died four years ago.
"He was always willing to help people in all situations and was a great sport on the cricket field. Every person who plays cricket in the Columbus area would know him. He was a brilliant cricketer and a great friend," said Rohit Yalamanchili, who is overseeing an online fundraiser to send back Veera’s body to India.
"I hope god brings peace to Saiesh, his mother, family, and friends who were touched by his soul," Yalamanchili said.
Veera’s father used to teach economics at Eluru’s C R Reddy college. Now, the death of the Master’s student leaves behind his homemaker mother and an older brother, Venkatesh.
Veera’s uncle Narasimha Rao said, “My brother always had the ambition of sending both the sons or at least one of them to the US for higher studies.” Rao is the younger brother of Veera’s father and lives in Palakollu.
He said the family took a bank loan to send their son to a foreign university after he completed an electrical engineering course at the same college where his father had worked. Rao said Veera had completed his course in the US and in another 20 days he would have got a placement.
According to his uncle, Veera applied for a H-1B visa and exuded confidence that he would bag it. Anticipating these changes, he had also tendered his resignation at the fuel station where he was doing part-time work when he was tragically killed, said Rao.
The youngster was planning to visit India at the end of May for a month and then return to the US, his uncle said. The last call from Veera had come during the past weekend, and as further telephonic conversations did not happen, the family members did not know where Veera had secured a job and other details.
Besides academics, Rao said, his nephew had been an excellent all-rounder in cricket, who used to actively participate in several local tournaments when he was at home and also in the US.
He said the family members had just seen a few news reports and photographs on his cricketing exploits in the US through some American media outlets.
Meanwhile, Eluru district collector V Prasanna Venkatesh called up Veera’s family members and spoke to them, assuring help from the government to bring back his body.
The local sub-divisional police officer, municipal commissioner and deputy collector too visited the victim’s home while Eluru MLA Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas (Nani) also visited them and assured them that they would extend all the help needed from the government to bring the body back as early as possible.