Family members cremate bodies of Indian students killed in LSU shooting

HYDERABAD, India — The bodies of two Indian students shot dead at Louisiana State University earlier this month were cremated in their hometowns in southern India on Monday, their family members said.

Komma Chandrasekhar Reddy, 31, and Kiran Kumar Allam, 33, both of whom were pursuing doctoral studies at the university, were shot in the head in a home invasion on Dec. 13. No arrests have been made.

The coffins with their bodies arrived by plane in Hyderabad, capital of India's Andhra Pradesh state, early Sunday and were received by their grieving family members.

They were cremated Monday in their respective hometowns, family members said.

Allam was a native of Hyderabad, while his friend, Reddy, came from Kurnool, a town 130 miles south of Hyderabad.

The shootings — the first at Louisiana State University in a decade — have shocked parents of many Indians studying in the United States. India sends one of the largest numbers of students every year to the U.S. to pursue higher education.

Police have run into stumbling blocks, including the end of final exams that sent many of the university's 28,000 students — and possibly potential witnesses — headed home for the holidays.

Police last week released sketches of two suspects.