41-Year-Old Indian-Origin Man Assaulted On Washington Street Dies

An Indian-American executive died earlier this week, days after he suffered life-threatening injuries during a fight outside a Washington restaurant.

Vivek Taneja, who is from Virginia, and the suspect were at a Japanese restaurant on February 2, a police report said. He was "knocked to the ground by the suspect and hit his head on the pavement", Washington Post cited a police report as saying.

This comes amid a spate of attacks on and deaths of Indians and Indian-Americans in the US.

Taneja, 41, left the restaurants around 2 am and the fight broke out on a nearby street, the police report said without describing the nature of the dispute. He lost consciousness in the attack and when the cops arrived, they found him with life-threatening injuries and rushed him to a hospital.

He died from the injuries at the hospital on Wednesday, police said.

A search is on for the suspect who was seen on CCTV. He has not been identified.

The police have offered a $25,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to his arrest and conviction.

Taneja was the co-founder of Dynamo Technologies, a technology solutions and analytics product provider to the US government. He was also the president of the company and led its strategic, growth, and partnership initiatives, according to the company website.

Earlier this week, an Indian student was left bleeding from his nose and mouth after he was attacked by robbers in Chicago. Syed Mazahir Ali, whose family lives in Hyderabad, was seen in a video pleading for help following the attack.

Five Indian-origin students were reported dead in the US this year.

Sameer Kamath, an Indian-American studying at Purdue University, was found dead at a nature reserve this week. Authorities said he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.

Shreyas Reddy Beniger, a 19-year-old student who held an American passport, was found dead last week, but authorities had ruled out any foul play. Another student, Neel Acharya, was found dead on the Purdue University campus earlier that week, hours after his mother had reported him missing.

Vivek Saini, a 25-year-old student from Haryana, was hammered to death by a homeless man in Georgia's Lithonia on January 16. Akul Dhawan, another Indian student, was found dead outside the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in January.

In the wake of the deaths, US envoy to India Eric Garcetti reassured that the US is committed to making sure it remains a safe destination for Indian students.

"Our heart always is touched when any tragedy occurs, whether it is a life taken by somebody or any violence - no matter who they are. We are very committed to making sure that Indians know that the United States is a wonderful place to study and to be safe," he said yesterday.