US: 3 held for Indian students' murder

Three African-American youths have been arrested for the brutal slaying of two doctoral students from Andhra Pradesh at the Louisiana State University campus in December 2007.

Michael Jermaine Lewis, 19, and Casey Gathers, 20, were arrested on Thursday for the December 13 killing of Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam who were found shot in the head in what police called a home invasion of Allam's apartment.

Devin Jamell Parker, 19, was arrested on Wednesday in an unrelated simple robbery and booked into prison, Gary Durham, acting chief of the LSU Police Department, said at a press conference held to announce the arrests.

All the three men, hailing from Baton Rouge, will be charged with two counts of first degree murder.

Komma, 31, was a biology student from Kurnool, and Allam, 33, was a chemistry student from Hyderabad.

The shootings shocked the Indian student community in the US and sparked fears of their safety.

A multi-agency task force, which included the FBI had been formed to crack the sensational case and police had released sketches of two black men seen in the apartment complex where the students were murdered and a description of what was believed to be the getaway car.

Investigators said the probe is on-going and they will not comment until more information is gathered and the suspects have been completely interviewed.

"We are not going to discuss any evidence or answer further questions today regarding the case," said Durham, adding the focus is now on prosecuting these individuals.

Several agencies involved in the task force investigating the slayings were present at the news conference.

"On behalf of the entire LSU family, I want to say how grateful I am that arrests in this case have been made. I want to thank the LSU Police Department and all of the members of the Task Force for their unwavering dedication and diligence to solve this case," LSU Acting Chancellor William Jenkins said.

"Additionally, I want to reassure all LSU students, especially our international students and their families, that campus safety remains our top priority and that we have a strong and continuous commitment to safety on our campus," he said.