Varun Manish Chheda from Indianapolis, who was studying at Purdue University, was found dead in McCutcheon Hall on the western edge of campus, police said on Wednesday.
Indian University student suffers multiple sharp force traumatic injuries. Roommate taken into custody on a murder charge for further investigation.
Ji Min “Jimmy” Sha, a junior cybersecurity major and international student from Korea, called 911 around 12:45 am on Wednesday to alert police about the death, Purdue University Police Chief Lesley Wiete said at a news conference Wednesday morning.
A junior cybersecurity major and international student from Korea, called 911 around 12:45 am on Wednesday to alert police about the death, Purdue University Police Chief Lesley Wiete said at a news conference Wednesday morning. Details of the call were not disclosed.
Officials said the incident took place in a room on the first floor of McCutcheon Hall. Chheda was studying data science at the university. According to preliminary autopsy results, Chheda died of “multiple sharp force traumatic injuries” and the manner of death was murder. As Fox News reports, Chief Viette said he believed the attack was “unprovoked” and “stupid”.
Chheda’s childhood friend Arunabh Sinha told NBC News that Chheda was playing an online game on Tuesday night and talking with friends when he suddenly heard shouts on the call.
Sinha was not playing with his friends that night, but he told her that he had heard the attack and did not know what happened. On Wednesday morning they woke up to the news of his death.
Viete said Sha, 22, was taken into custody minutes after a 911 call and taken to a police station for further investigation. Police said Chheda’s death is Purdue’s first on-campus murder in more than eight years. University President Mitch Daniels said Chheda’s death was “as tragic as we can imagine happening on our campus,” adding that “our hearts and thoughts are with all those affected by this horrific event.” “