Indian youth's murder in UK draws ire on Facebook

London: Social networking website Facebook has been flooded with comments condemning the killing of Indian student Anuj Bidve in Manchester, with one terming the killers "vermin".

The 23-year-old Bidve, from Pune in Maharashtra, was part of a group of nine men and women — all Indian students — visiting the city for a short break for Christmas. He was a postgraduate student in micro-electronics at Lancaster University.

Close-range shot

Bidve was shot in the head while walking from his hotel in Salford area towards the Manchester city centre around 1.30am. He died at a hospital a short while later.

Rakesh Sonawane, another resident of Pune, who now stays in Manchester, described on Facebook what he saw at the spot. "In the early hours of the morning, I arrived at a scene I will never forget. Anuj Bidve had been shot in the head, for no reason whatsoever. I feel like I myself did not do enough to help Anuj this morning — I feel that neither did the police and ambulance crews."

"I have been made aware that funds are needed to help get Anuj's body back to India. Being from Manchester myself, I feel that we should all try to raise money and help this guy's family deal with the loss," he wrote.

"I feel disgusted that someone from our town could do such a thing to a visitor in our city," he said.

Bidve's father Subhash also appealed for help on Facebook: "Pl help in getting Anuj's dead body back to India."

One Facebook user Yas Miin termed the killers "sick scumbags" and asked for their hanging. "R.I.P to Anuj. May god bless him. Such a young life taken away frm his parents and family hpe ther catch the sick scumbags and hang them," she wrote.

Manchester resident Becca Cloughley Lewtas said she was "ashamed that someone from my city would do such a vile act". "I truly hope they catch the vermin who did this to you," she wrote further.

One man named Shripad Sathe, however, opposed taking the body back to India. "Whilst I did not know this gentleman before, might I also, with due respect to everyone, also suggest last respects might be paid in the UK, rather than carry him (all with paperwork, etc. which is mentally traumatic) to India? Sincere apologies if this hurts anyone," Sathe wrote on the website.

Unprovoked killing: Teenager arrested

The UK police arrested a 17-year-old teenager yesterday in connection with the unprovoked killing of Indian student Anuj Bidve, who was shot down on Monday morning in what could be a hate-crime.

The unnamed teenager was arrested in the early hours yesterday after a warrant was executed in the Salford area.

Without ruling out racism as a motive, chief superintendent Kevin Mulligan said: "This appears to be an unprovoked attack and we can't establish a motive at this time. We are investigating every possible aspect and we are in the early stages of the investigation, but we are not ruling anything out."

Post mortem results are expected to confirm that Bidve died of a single gunshot wound to the head. Initial witness statements have been taken from the other eight Indian students who were with Bidve. They are now "in a safe place" being cared for by the police until they return to Lancaster University, Mulligan said.