Death of Arpana being probed as homicide

NEW YORK: Seattle police are investigating the death of a young woman techie from Andhra Pradesh under myserious circumstances as a case of homicide.
       
Arpana Jinaga (24) working as a software professional EMC Corp. in Bellevue in Seattle in Washington state since April was found dead in her apartment in Redmond, police said. She was simultaneously pursuing her MS degree.
      
The incident came to light when Arpana's friend visited her apartment on Monday at Redmond- Woodinville Road Northeast after getting no response from her cellphone, police said. Preliminary reports said Arpana may have died on Friday evening.
       
Jinaga had moved to the Pacific Northwest about six months ago.
       
Police went to Jinaga's apartment after they were contacted by her friend, Redmond police spokesman Jim Bove said, adding police are investigating the death as a homicide.
       
Jinaga had been a prize-winner in a competition in 2004 sponsored by Microchip Technology Inc. in which she designed a communications jammer using a digital signal controller.
       
"She was a very outgoing person," said Muhammad Ali, software quality-assurance manager for EMC in Bellevue.
       
She was offered a job with EMC as a software quality-assurance engineer last spring, Ali said, adding "She thought this might be a challenging experience."
       
Ali said he became concerned about Jinaga when she hadn't come to work by about 11 am Monday. He tried to reach her by cellphone, but got no response, the paper said.
       
The friend went to Jinaga's apartment only to find her dead.
       
The latest incident was the fifth case of young students and professionals from Andhra Pradesh meeting a tragic death under mysterious circumstances in the US in the last one year.