A pall of gloom descended on the bylanes of Satyanarayana Nagar at Karwan here on Wednesday. Relatives and well-wishers started arriving at the modest residence of the Narotes after the news came about the murder of 26-year-old Arun Kumar Narote in the United States.
Arun was shot dead by unidentified persons at a provision store in Bridgeport City on Tuesday. Pursuing his Master's in Bridgeport University, he was working part time as a sales clerk at the store when robbers attacked it.
Family members said Arun had been working there since he went to the U.S. in 2007.
Youngest member
The family was disconsolate at the loss of their youngest member.
While Arun's siblings — two brothers and a sister — had come to grips with the tragedy, his parents are yet to be informed about his death.
His father Dhondiba Rao (70), a retired headmaster, is a cardiac patient.
“We have told him Arun met with an accident and is in coma,” said Arun's eldest brother Avinash Narote.
Family members could not muster the courage to inform him that Arun was no more.
His mother, Shakuntala, wouldn't accept that something tragic has befallen her youngest child. She waited the whole day for her son to call.
“He will call us”
“His mother is not ready to accept anything. She keeps saying, ‘he will call us within an hour',” Arun's aunt Shobha said, choking back tears.
“He was dear to all our family members. He was studious right from childhood and was the first from our family to go to the U.S.,” his brother said.
“We had recently asked him to return to India but he was confident of settling down in seven months and even buying a home there. He also promised to take care of our financial problems.”
BJP leader and former Union Minister, Bandaru Dattatreya, accompanied by local corporator Karunakar consoled the bereaved family.
Arun's brother Amar Narote submitted a petition to Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, requesting that the body be brought back to India at the earliest from Connecticut. Family members also appealed to the Central and State governments to intervene.
According to reports, the Telugu Association of North America (TANA) is coordinating with the Indian embassy officials in the United States.
