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Eight years after the murder of 38-year-old Sasikala Narra and her six-year-old son Anish in their home in New Jersey, authorities have announced charges against an Indian man. The accused, Nazeer Hameed, was employed at Cognizant Technology Solutions and worked alongside Sasikala’s husband N Hanumantha Rao.
Addressing the media, Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office’s Chief of Investigations Patrick Thornton said that Hameed was working in the US on a visa when the incident occurred in March 2017. He returned to India and has remained here since.
Investigators learnt in June 2019 that an unknown sample of blood obtained from the murder scene was the same blood type as Hameed's. While multiple attempts were made to get a DNA test, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the FBI in the US that Hameed refused to provide a DNA sample.
According to officials, after being served a subpoena, Cognizant gave investigators Hameed’s company-issued laptop. In December 2024, investigators found his DNA sample from his laptop, which matched with the blood sample from the crime scene.
“This development provided strong physical evidence that confirmed what our investigation had already determined,” Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Lieutenant Brian Cunningham said.
Officials are currently working on getting Hameed extradited to the US to be prosecuted.
Police determined Hameed lived within walking distance of the victims and had been stalking Hanumanth Narra prior to the murders.
“He committed this crime, there is no doubt in our minds that he is responsible,” Patrick Thornton said. “We are hopeful that he will be extradited. I can’t imagine the powers that be in India want to protect a man who nearly decapitated a 6-year-old child after killing his mother in front of him,” he said.