News India Times
September 11, 2015
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Manipuri’s Tennis Dream Shattered After Shooting Death In Va.
By Suman Guha Mozumder
haolin Chandam’s two
tennis racquets, a
water-spray bottle,
two jump ropes and
some clothes stuffed
in a blue-white tennis bag lie in
one corner of the home of Tony
Caputo, head coach of Men’s
Basketball and Tennis in
Southern Virginia University.
Whenever Caputo looks at
the bag these days, it reminds
him of Shaolin who was shot
dead outside his home in
Hampton, Virginia, Aug. 25. He
feels very near to tears.
“I am very sad today as I
look at his belongings that
Chandam left with me a few
years ago when he finished his
college degree and moved to
Hampton. But at the same time
I feel happy that I knew this
man. He was such a wonderful
person. I have vivid memories
of our association during his
college days,” Caputo, assistant
athletic director at the univer-
sity, told News India Times,
reminiscing about the brilliant
tennis player.
The killing of Chandam,
who lived alone in the United
States, shocked not just the
members of his immediate
family living in a village near
Imphal, Manipur, but all those
who knew him in college and
on the tennis field in Virginia
as well.
According to Hampton
police, the 25-year-old Indian-
American was shot dead out-
side his apartment complex in
LaSalle Gardens in Hampton
during a verbal altercation with
one Keenan A. Palmer, 25, who
police said was his roommate.
Palme was arrested from the
scene and was taken to
Hampton City jail. Chandam,
who suffered multiple gunshot
injuries, was found dead before
police arrived at the scene.
Pending full investigation
authorities did not say what
led to the altercation, or the
possible cause for his killing.
“I do not know what the rea-
son was, but I can’t believe a
person like him could be killed.
Like all immigrants, he was
hardworking, ambitious, and
most of all, he was a very much
a disciplined guy like all
sportspersons are. I really feel
heart-broken,” Chandam’s
cousin, Satya Nongthombam
who lives in Ontario, Canada,
told this correspondent.
He said that Chandam grad-
uated from Southern Virginia
University Dec. 2013 in busi-
ness management and leader-
ship. Chandam moved to
Hampton after his college and
was working as a licensed
insurance executive. “But he
kept his tennis ambitions alive
by being on the fields every
now and then,”
Nongthombam, who came to
Washington September 2, to
make arrangements for his
body to be taken to Imphal,
said.
Chandam played under
coach Caputo from 2010-12
and continued playing even
after leaving the university.
“Shaolin was one of the
best-skilled, most competitive
players that have played here.
He was a fine player and a stu-
dent who loved Southern
Virginia University. I remember
his skills at the net, and no
wonder he was captain of our
team,” Caputo said, adding
that he was a left-handed play-
er and the best one in the team
who scored 19 wins and only
five losses in singles when he
was at the university.
Chandam was part of the
Knights’ ‘best team record’ in
men’s college/university tennis
history, leading the team to a
15-1 season in 2011-12. He
played both No. 1 singles and
doubles.
After the news of his death
reached his family in Imphal,
his father Chandam Ranjan
sent a letter to Caputo last
week, mourning his son’s death
and describing him as an intro-
vert, yet ambitious person. “My
son was an introvert with high
ambitions.
God can only answer why
fate is so cruel to him and my
family. I have not seen him
ever since he left for the U.S. in
2010 and today I am waiting to
receive his lifeless body,”
Ranjan, a retired Indian Army
Colonel, said in the letter to
Caputo, a copy of which was
obtained by News India Times.
His father noted that Shaolin
left home for tennis training
and education at the age of six
years to various training cen-
ters in India. “I never had
enough opportunities to be
with him when he was alive.
Now, I have a whole lifetime to
unveil (sic) all that he wanted
to achieve, and live with his
memories. He had great
dreams and aspirations. He
wanted to achieve all his
dreams with great zeal and
enthusiasm,” the father said.
North American Manipuri
Association raised some $1,000
plus for helping the funeral of
Shaolin in Imphal and sending
his body there. “The trans-
portation of the body was
expected Sept. 4 and we have
managed to raise some 1,000-
plus dollars so far thanks to the
generosity of fellow Manipuri
Americans in the United
States,” Bijon Singh, a
Manipuri, who lives in Virginia
and took part in the online
fund-raising, said.
Nongthombam reached
Washington Sept. 2 to make
arrangements for taking his
cousin’s body to Imphal. He
said he was in touch with the
Indian embassy to facilitate the
procedure, which he hoped
would be smooth.
“But one thing strikes me:
“Shaolin was born when his
father, that time a Colonel with
the Indian Army, was away on
the IPKF mission in Sri Lanka,
and Shaolin also died without
his father anywhere nearby
him. It is really tragic,”
Nongthombam said.
S
By Arun Kumar
–WASHINGTON
A
n Indian grandfather
who was slammed
down to the ground
by an Alabama police officer
while walking in his son’s
neighborhood in February
recalled the horrific
encounter that left him
badly injured.
Sureshbhai Patel, 57, was
called to the stand as the
trial of former police office
Eric Parker, 26, began in a
Huntsville, Alabama federal
court Wednesday.
Parker is accused of using
excessive force against an
unarmed Patel and charged
with violating his civil
rights.
Patel, according to local
whnt.com,told the jury he
went for a walk around the
neighborhood every morn-
ing, but stayed on the same
street as his son’s house and
never went farther than ten
or 11 houses away.
He walked on the foot-
path next to the road and
did not go to anybody’s
house or into anyone’s yard
on his walk.
Patel said on the morning
of the incident, he stopped
when he heard shouting
from behind him. He recog-
nized the uniforms the men
wore as police uniforms.
He said he stopped when
they shouted, but he could
not understand them.
He says he was only able
to respond, “No English, no
English.”
Patel said when the offi-
cer put his hand on him, he
did not attempt to jerk or
pull away.
Shortly after that, the
officer “put him on the
grass.” He said officers tried
to lift him, but his hands
and legs were numb.
As a result of his injuries,
he now has trouble walking
and cannot care for his
grandson, he told the jury.
When the defence asked
Patel why he did not carry
identification or a card with
his son’s contact informa-
tion on it, he replied that he
was simply going for a
short-distance morning
walk and that there was no
need for identification.
Earlier, officer Charles
Spence who was called to
respond after Parker arrest-
ed Sureshbhai Patel, said
Parker used a standard take-
down move, the “front leg
sweep” taught in the police
academy.
Spence said it’s used
when a subject is being
combative, but he didn’t
observe Patel being combat-
ive.
He also said this type of
takedown is “high risk” and
he wouldn’t have hand-
cuffed him in this circum-
stance.
Prosecutors asked Spence
if he saw anything that
would have caused him to
lay hands on Patel. “No sir, I
didn’t,” Officer Spence
replied.
Parker had responded on
a report of a suspicious per-
son. The jury heard a
recording of the dispatcher’s
call to police about a “black
male” looking into garages
there.
Police dash cam video
captured Parker slamming
Patel to the ground, and
jurors watched those videos
in court.
Throughout questioning,
even in opening statements,
Parker’s lawyer, Robert
Tuten, argued his client was
doing what was necessary to
“control the situation,”
which is a duty of a police
officer in an uncertain situa-
tion.
–IANS
Slammed Indian Grandfather
Testifies At Alabama Cop’s Trial
