New Delhi: A 41-year-old Indian-American businessman, Vivek Chander Taneja, succumbed to his injuries this week after he was assaulted by an unidentified man outside a restaurant in Washington DC, the Washington Post reported.
The incident took place on February 2, around 2 am, when Taneja and two other people left Shōtō and Akēdo, two sister Japanese restaurants located in the Midtown Center building at 15th and L streets NW. As they reached 15th Street, Taneja got into an argument with a man who had also been at the restaurants. The verbal spat soon turned violent, and the man pushed Taneja to the ground, causing him to hit his head on the pavement.
Taneja, who lived in Alexandria, Virginia, was rushed to a hospital in a critical condition. He remained unconscious for five days before he passed away on February 7. The Washington DC police have declared his death as a homicide and are looking for the suspect, who fled the scene after the attack. The police have released a video of a person of interest in the case and have appealed to the public for any information.
The motive behind the assault is still unclear. The police have not revealed if Taneja and the suspect knew each other or had any previous altercation inside the restaurants. Taneja was the co-founder and president of Dynamo Technologies, a company that provides intellectual technology solutions to various sectors.
Shōtō, the restaurant outside which the incident occurred, issued a statement expressing its sympathy to Taneja’s family and clarifying that the restaurant was closed at the time of the incident. “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family during this incredibly tragic time. The incident in question did not occur at Shōtō and the restaurant was closed at this time,” the statement said.
