IITian killed in New Jersey attack

An IIT-ian who was assaulted by three juveniles while on a walk with his family in a New Jersey suburb succumbed to his injuries on Monday, police and family friends said. The assailants have been arrested.


Divyendu Sinha, 49, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur died after battling injuries sustained in an attack by three 17-year-old delinquents in New Brunswick when he was walking with his family near his home around 11.40pm. His two sons, one a 10-year-old and the other a high school student, suffered minor injuries and his wife was unhurt.

No reasons were given for the attack in which no weapons were used. Police said initial reports did not indicate the attack was racially motivated.

The three 17-year-olds, whose names were withheld because of their age, were initially charged with aggravated assault which was later changed to murder and conspiracy to commit murder after Sinha's death at the Robert Wood Johnson hospital, nearly two days after the attack.

Friends said Sinha was a computer scientist who was working as a technology officer at Siemens. After graduating from IIT Kharagpur, he earned a doctorate in computer science from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. He served on the faculties of the Institute and Staten Island College.