Santa Clara: Indian Software Engineer Shot Dead by Police; Family Demands Investigation
Santa Clara police shot and killed Mohammed Nizamuddin, a 30-year-old software engineer from Telangana, on September 3, 2025, after officers said he was holding a knife and pinning down an injured roommate. Nizamuddin's family in India learned of his death two weeks later through a friend, prompting calls for government intervention and a thorough investigation. The case has drawn attention from Indian advocacy groups and diaspora media, with the family requesting help from India's Ministry of External Affairs.
Family Seeks Answers After Fatal Police Shooting
Mohammed Nizamuddin, a 30-year-old software engineer who had moved from Telangana to California to work in the technology sector, was shot dead by Santa Clara police on September 3, 2025. Officers said they found Nizamuddin inside his residence pinning down his injured roommate while holding a knife. They opened fire and he was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office and the Santa Clara Police Department announced a joint investigation into the incident. Nizamuddin's father, Mohammed Hasnuddin, told PTI that the family only learned of the death on September 18, through a friend based in California. 'Today morning, I came to know he was shot dead by Santa Clara Police and his mortal remains are in some hospital in Santa Clara, California,' the father said. He has since requested India's Ministry of External Affairs to help repatriate his son's body to Mahbubnagar, Telangana. Majlis Bachao Tehreek spokesperson Amjed Ullah Khan wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar urging him to take up the matter with the Indian Embassy in Washington and the Consulate General in San Francisco. A relative, speaking to ANI, said a dispute over an air conditioner had escalated into violence. According to the relative, when police entered the room, one occupant complied with instructions to show his hands while the other did not, after which police fired four rounds. The family has called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the shooting. [6]
Police Call Shooting Justified; Family Alleges Racial Bias
American Kahani, a publication serving the Indian-American community, covered the fatal shooting under the headline 'Trigger Happy: Indian Software Engineer Shot Dead by Santa Clara Police; Family Alleges Racial Bias.' The Santa Clara Police Department described the incident as an officer-involved shooting, stating it was justified by the immediate threat posed by Mohammed Nizamuddin, who officers said was armed with a knife at the time they encountered him. The department's position — that the use of lethal force was a lawful response to an armed and immediate threat — stands against the account put forward by the family, which has alleged that racial bias influenced the encounter and its outcome. American Kahani's choice of the phrase 'trigger happy' in the headline reflects a perspective held by sections of the community that the lethal response was disproportionate to the situation. The family's allegation of racial bias raises questions that the joint investigation by the Santa Clara County DA and the police department will need to address. Nizamuddin himself had documented concerns about his experiences in California: a LinkedIn post attributed to him alleged that he had been a victim of racial hatred, racial discrimination, racial harassment, torture, wage fraud, wrongful termination, and obstruction of justice, adding to the picture of a man who felt endangered long before the fatal encounter. [4]
🪔 Santa Clara Family Builds Hindu-Blessed Levi's Stadium Paper Model
A Santa Clara resident and longtime 49ers fan has created a detailed miniature paper model of Levi's Stadium, incorporating a Hindu god's blessing in anticipation of Super Bowl LX. Mangesh Tamhankar, who has lived in Santa Clara for 25 years, built the model together with his family as part of an annual tradition that has continued for a quarter century. Each year, the Tamhankar family selects a theme tied to significant worldwide events and constructs a paper model to mark the occasion. The stadium replica includes a representation invoking a Hindu deity's blessing on the upcoming Super Bowl, which is scheduled to take place at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. The model reflects both the family's long connection to the Bay Area and their South Asian cultural and religious traditions, weaving together their identity as devoted 49ers fans and as practitioners of their faith. Tamhankar has expressed hope that the 49ers organization will agree to display the finished model at the stadium itself. The project illustrates how members of the South Asian diaspora in the Bay Area bring their cultural and religious traditions into their engagement with American civic and sporting life, finding ways to blend the two as part of their experience of living in the region. [3]
Sources: [6] Gulf News · [4] American Kahani · [3] Patch