Friends of Indian jeweller murdered in US express grief

School friends of a 49-year-old NRI businessman, who hailed from Vadodara, are in shock at his killing on Friday in the St Croix area of the Virgin Islands in the United States. Kailash Banani (49), the owner of Panache Jewellery store in Christiansted, died of multiple gunshot wounds at around 6:23 pm (Virgin Islands Time) on Friday (3.53 am Indian Standard Time on Saturday) in the Mount Welcome area of St Croix.

Banani, along with his wife and two daughters, had visited Vadodara last year for Navaratri, according to his friends. Pankaj Jani, the managing trustee of the Vadodara-based Shreyas School on Manjalpur Road here where Banani had studied, recalled the latter as a brilliant student.

"I was shocked on learning about Banani's killing. He was a brilliant student. We will hold a prayer meeting in the assembly hall of the school on Monday," Jani told PTI. Chandu Rohra, a close friend of Banani, mourned the death, adding that Banani wanted to create an apparel brand. His family members in the city could not be contacted.