While the Minister indicates that this was a shootout in a robbery incident, the fact is Indians have been at the receiving end of hate crimes in the US since Donald Trump took over as the 45th American President. A 32-year-old software engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was shot dead in a Kansas bar on February 20 by a white man, Adam Purinton. Ten days later, on March 2, a Lancaster store owner Harnish Patel was killed, though it wasn’t clear whether it was a hate crime. The next day, Deep Rai, was shot and injured in front of his house in Seattle by a gunman who shouted "go back to your own country”.





According to the minister’s tweets, Vikram had reached the US just 25 days back and was working at the gas station of a family friend.





Jaryal, who worked as a clerk at AM-PM Gas Station in Yakima city, was behind the counter when the incident happened. His family had yesterday sought Swaraj's help to bring his body back. Jaryal hailed from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab.





"On April 6, two miscreants entered the shop at 1.30 am. They snatched cash from victim and shot on his chest. This resulted in his death," Swaraj said.





"We are coordinating with the investigative agencies. They have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits," she said.