Three persons have been arrested and charged in the US in connection with the murder case of a 43-year-old Indian-origin store owner who was gunned down outside his home in South Carolina in March.
The incident had sent shockwaves through the Indian-American community in the country.
Harnish Patel, the owner of a convenience store in Lancaster County, was found dead of gunshot wounds in the front yard of his home. The three persons are accused of a conspiracy to commit robbery, in what police documents describe as a "smash an Indian" incident, The Herald newspaper reported.
Police have not charged anyone with murder, it said.
Jaquinton Tradell Blair, 23, LaJames Arteian Ross, 22, and Richard Stewart, 42, had roles in the robbery and conspiracy, according to the arrest warrants released on Thursday.
Blair and Ross, charged this month with conspiracy to commit armed robbery, are both jailed under $85,000 bond, the report said, adding that Stewart was charged with conspiracy and accessory to armed robbery before the fact.
Stewart is being held without bond. Stewart allegedly consulted with the suspects, provided ammunition and information for the robbery and "did nothing to prevent the incident", arrest warrants said.
The warrants cite the words "smash an Indian", as used by the three people arrested, the report said, adding that the phrase is the first indication that the crime could possibly have been a hate crime.
Doug Barfield, spokesman for the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office, said that he was not aware of any hate crime probe launched by federal authorities. Hate crimes are generally considered federal offenses.
"We helped the family through this tough time, but this news raises some questions about where we stand and how safe we are in the country," said Shard Patel,
president of the Rock Hill Indian Association."We definitely want justice for the family," Sharad said.