An Indian-American executive died earlier this week, days after he was found with life-threatening injuries following a fight outside a Washington restaurant.

Vivek Taneja, who is from Virginia, and the suspect were at two sister Japanese restaurants on February 2, a police report said. He was “was knocked to the ground by the suspect and hit his head on the pavement”, Washington Posted cited a police report as saying.

This comes amid a spate of attacks on and deaths of Indians and Indian-Americans in the US.

Taneja, 41, left the restaurants around 2 am and the fight broke out on a nearby street, the police report said without describing the nature of the dispute. He lost consciousness in the attack and when the cops arrived, they found him with life threatening injuries and rushed him to a hospital.

He died from the injuries at the hospital on Wednesday, police said.

A search is on for the suspect who was seen on CCTV. He has not been identified.

The police have offered a $25,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to his arrest and conviction.

Earlier this week, an Indian student was left bleeding from his nose and mouth after he was attacked by robbers in Chicago. Syed Mazahir Ali, who family lives in Hyderabad, was seen in a video pleading for help following the attack.

Five Indian-origin students were reported dead in the US this year.

Sameer Kamath, an Indian-American studying at Purdue University, was found dead a nature reserve this week. Authorities said he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.

Shreyas Reddy Beniger, a 19-year-old student who held an American passport, was found dead last week, but authorities had ruled out any foul play. Another student, Neel Acharya, was found dead on the Purdue University campus earlier that week, hours after his mother had reported him missing.

Vivek Saini, a 25-year-old student from Haryana, was hammered to death by a homeless man in Georgia’s Lithonia on January 16. Akul Dhawan, another Indian student, was found dead outside the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in January.

In wake of the deaths, US envoy to India Eric Garcetti reassured that the US is committed to make sure it remains safe destination for Indian students.

“Our heart always is touched when any tragedy occurs, whether it is a life taken by somebody or any violence – no matter who they are. We are very committed to making sure that Indians know that the United States is a wonderful place to study and to be safe,” he said yesterday.

Mauris Noronha, the man who shot dead the son of a Shiv Sena (UBT) during a Facebook live session, had been planning his ‘revenge’ for some time. Abhishek Ghosalkar, the son of the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, could not have possibly suspected Noronha’s plan as he was led to believe the meeting with Noronha was to mend bridges between them.

Mauris ‘Bhai’, as Noronha was known on social media, was a poker player who received praise for helping the poor during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As he became popular due to his philanthropy work, he also became inclined towards politics, which led him to decide on contesting the corporator election.

But there was a problem. The son of the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader didn’t want Noronha to contest, and objected to his candidacy publicly.

Then, a woman filed a case alleging Noronha had raped her. He was jailed for five months in this case. He suspected Ghosalkar to be the architect of the rape allegation to derail his corporator plan.

Eventually, Noronha made the plan to kill Ghosalkar by first winning his trust. Noronha made elaborate plans to send a message that he was no longer interested in the corporator election. This would have made Ghosalkar put down his guard.

On the day of the shooting, Noronha had invited Ghosalkar to a Facebook live session under the pretext of extending an olive branch and to tell the public both had become friends.

Noronha put up banners of Ghosalkar to pretend he supported the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader’s son over his own candidacy.

The outcome of Noronha’s planning is that Ghosalkar agreed to meet him for the Facebook live session. In the video, both are talking in a friendly way, until Noronha gets up and shoots Ghosalkar. After shooting his rival, Noronha ran to the mezzanine floor at his office and shot himself in the head.

Reports said Noronha first tried to shoot himself in the room where he hosted the Facebook live session. But the handgun didn’t work. Within seconds, he loaded another bullet in the handgun and shot himself.

Noronha used the gun of his bodyguard, Amarendra Mishra. The bodyguard’s wife told the police that Noronha, while hiring her husband, asked him to keep his gun in the office. Mr Mishra has been arrested under the Arms Act, which deals with giving a gun to someone without checking if the person is allowed to have the gun.

Noronha fired six rounds, five of which hit Ghosalkar.

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shehbaz Sharif has joined hands with PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to form a coalition government with election trends showing no party getting a clear majority, the local media have reported.

An unity government would thwart Imran Khan despite Independents backed by him racing ahead in the national elections, but falling short of the 133 majority mark.

Elections were held in Pakistan on February 8 amid a mobile service blackout.

Here are the LIVE updates on Pakistan Elections: