HYDERABAD: Troubled by the news in coming from Kansas, distraught IT professionals back home, aspiring to the live the American Dream, say how such tragic occurrences fuel their security concerns. While they agree to being anxious about travelling to the US, they also confess that the lure of the fat salaries on offer there is too hard to turn down."If the choice is between security and money, the latter always wins," Ekalabya Patnaik bluntly put, perhaps echoing the sentiment of the entire IT community. The member of the city-based Forum of IT Professionals, which condoled the death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla on Friday, said, "These unfortunate incidents do affect us deeply. It feels like we have lost one of us. But while we do feel a sense of fear, it doesn't deter anybody from latching on to that first opportunity which comes their way from the US. It's where the future lies."Drawing a comparison in salaries on two sides of the globe, techies say that while a staffer in India with 10 years of work experience draws between Rs 12-20 lakh annually, the same stands anywhere upwards of Rs 50-60 lakh per annum in the US."Such occurrences aren't new, they have been happening for years, But that hasn't impacted the footfall of professionals and students from here to the US," said Ramesh Loganathan, past president of the Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association, though condemning the Kansas shooting Estimates suggest that 40% of India's IT business dealings are with the US. Considering the mammoth population of Telangana and AP techies living there, it isn't though to guess that the two southern states contribute significantly to that figure.But the fear among Indian professionals there is real. "While people like me aren't perturbed as I am only going on a short official trip, those with jobs there are certainly worried. My brother, who recently moved to Dallas from Cleveland, for instance, has been receiving warning letters with messages such as 'go back to your country' written on them. Other Indians in Dallas have also received similar threatening notes. He also complains of intimidating calls being made and insults being thrown at him by people on the road," Pavan Komaragiri, another techie from Hyderabad.