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A 24-year-old Indian woman and her 56-year-old father were shot dead at a departmental store in Virginia, US, where they had been working. The shooting took place on Thursday, shortly after the store in Accomack County opened.

Police have arrested George Frazier Devon Wharton (44) for the double murder. According to reports, the accused reached the store early Thursday morning to buy liquor and asked why the store was shut at night. He then opened fire at the father-daughter duo. While Pradeep Patel died on the spot, his daughter Urmi succumbed to her injuries at the hospital.

Pradeep Patel, his wife Hansaben and their daughter Urmi are from Gujarat’s Mehsana district and moved to the US six years ago. They had been working at the convenience store owned by a relative, Paresh Patel. Speaking to WAVY TV in Virginia, Paresh Patel said the two victims were his family members. “My cousin’s wife and her dad were working this morning. Some guy came here and just shot. I don’t know what to do,” he said. Pradeep Patel and Hansaben have two more daughters — one lives in Canada, the other in Ahmedabad.

Accused Wharton has been charged with first-degree murder and other sections, including felony and arms laws.

The double murder has shocked the Indian community in the US. It comes months after Mainank Patel, a 36-year-old Indian-origin man running a convenience store in North Carolina, was shot dead during a robbery on the premises.

India is extending all possible assistance to Amit Gupta, an Indian citizen from Gujarat’s Vadodara, who has been wrongfully detained in Qatar for allegedly stealing data for which there is an ongoing investigation, people familiar with the matter said.

Mr Gupta, a senior employee of the IT firm Tech Mahindra, was detained by Qatari authorities on January 1, his mother Pushpa Gupta told the media in Vadodara.

Mr Gupta’s father said he was detained by Qatar’s state security.

The Indian embassy in Qatar is aware of the detention of Gupta by Qatari authorities in relation to an ongoing investigation, the people said on condition of anonymity.

Mr Gupta’s family insists that he is innocent and has been falsely accused of data theft. They are demanding his urgent release and have sought the intervention of the Prime Minister’s Office.

“Our embassy continues to provide all possible assistance in the matter and is closely following the case,” one of the people said, without giving details of the case or the charges against Mr Gupta.

The Embassy has been in touch with Mr Gupta’s family, the lawyer representing him and Qatari authorities on a regular basis, the people said.

Mr Gupta’s mother said she had gone to Qatar and met the Indian ambassador there.

She quoted the envoy as saying that there had been no “positive response” so far in relation to Mr Gupta’s case.

Gujarat: Amit Gupta, a Vadodara resident and Tech Mahindra’s Country Head in Qatar, has reportedly been held hostage in Doha. His elderly parents, distressed by the situation, reached out to Vadodara MP Hemang Joshi for help

Amit Gupta mother Pushpa Gupta says, “Amit Gupta was… pic.twitter.com/hxd3wQIysa

— IANS (@ians_india) March 22, 2025

BJP MP Hemang Joshi told the media that Mr Gupta, a resident of Vadodara, had been working for Tech Mahindra in Qatar for the past 10 years.

He was detained by Qatari security personnel and taken into custody, Mr Joshi said.

“His parents had gone to Qatar for a month and tried to meet him but they did not succeed,” the BJP MP added.

Gujarat: BJP MP Hemang Joshi says, “Our Baroda citizen, Amit Gupta, who has been working in Qatar Tech Mahindra for the past 10 years, and he had this problem. He was going out after eating, and the local security agency took him into custody. His parents had gone to Qatar for a… https://t.co/aeBnU3s4hb pic.twitter.com/e9dhJogfww

— IANS (@ians_india) March 22, 2025

This is the second instance since 2022 involving the detention of an Indian in Qatar.

Eight former Indian Navy personnel, including highly decorated officers, were detained in 2022 and subsequently sentenced to death in 2023. Their sentences were commuted by a Qatari court and they were freed on the orders of the Qatari Emir in February 2024.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)