US: Indian-American gas-station owner killed on daughter's birthday

AN Indian-American owner of a gas station in Columbus in the US state of Georgia has been killed on his minor daughter’s birthday in an incident of brazen daylight robbery in front of a bank which even shares a building with a local police station.

The tragic incident took place on Monday (6) when Amit Patel, 45, was shot while he was making a deposit at the bank, local WTVM television station reported quoting the county coroner.

Vinnie Patel, the partner of the deceased, told the channel that the latter had plans to celebrate his three-year-old daughter’s birthday after depositing the weekend sales report from his gas station at the bank.

Amit is survived by his wife and the daughter, Vinnie said, adding that his kid would never know what had happened to her father on her birthday.

Vinnie told local newspaper Ledger-Enquirer that the assassin took the money that Amit was going to deposit at the bank. He said his late partner was a “super nice guy” who ran an efficient operation and “did whatever he could for his employees”.

Columbus mayor Skip Henderson told another local TV station – WRBL – that the law enforcement was “absolutely committed to make a quick arrest” in the case.

The station also reported that Amit’s murder was the 65th case of homicide this year in Columbus, which is Georgia’s second biggest city and has a population of more than 206,000.