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Indian immigrants' murders awaken community to grim reality

Arthur J Pais in New York

When more than 300 mourners turned up for the funeral of two Dunkin Donuts employees who were murdered in cold blood for a handful of dollars near Washington DC, their presence sent a message to Indians across America not to be mere spectators when tragedy strikes one of their own.

Many of the mourners who came from more than 600 miles away, from such states as Kentucky and Georgia, did not even know the murdered men.

But having read about the senseless tragedy, they thought they should not only attend the cremation but also the help the victims' families in any way they could.

Most of the out-of-town mourners were from Gujarat but in Washington DC, scores of Indian Americans who attended the services cut across ethnic boundaries.

The murders of Kanu Patel, 28, and his 35-year-old cousin Mukesh, once again highlighted the dangers those who work during the nightshifts face continually across America. The three men were forced to lie next to each other on the floor of a small storage room, the police say, and their attackers including a teenage girl blasted them with shotguns and then set the business on fire.

Their Donut shop, which is owned by another immigrant, Jaydev Patel, was robbed about a year ago but Kanu and Mukesh Patel had continued working at the shop, even though several nearby shops had closed down due to the increasing crime rate in the area.

Since a large number of immigrants work double shifts, many of them become the victims of night-time robberies and murders. Over a dozen people from the Indian subcontinent have been murdered in the past 18 months in their small shops and at gas stations. Over a hundred of them have been beaten up during robberies.

The cousins were shot and killed just blocks from the Dunkin' Donuts shop, adjacent to Andrews Air Force Base on Thursday during a robbery. A third victim, who has not been identified because he is a witness, remains in critical condition at an area hospital, according to the police.

Three people -- Trone Tyrone Ashford, 26, and John Lemon Epps IV, 20, and Alicia M Holloway, 17, of Fort Washington -- have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the murders.

Meanwhile, several friends and relatives of the murdered men expressed anger at Dunkin' Donuts Inc for pledging $ 20,000 to a memorial fund for the victims and their families. Vinu Patel, a family friend, said that was peanuts compared with the approximately $ 100,000 in fees that a franchise owner pays each year.

The police said the attack resulted in a bungled robbery and the assailants fled the burning store, leaving behind money in two cash registers, in a cash box under the front counter and on a desk in the rear office.

Still, there were signs the victims had emptied their pockets before they were shot, investigators said, adding that they had found many items lying on the floor near their bodies, including a wallet with family pictures and a wristwatch.

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