Indian students arrested after being caught shoplifting in US

Two Indian students studying in the United States were arrested over shoplifting at a grocery store in Hoboken, New Jersey.

A video of the episode, which took place in March 2024, has resurfaced on social media and is drawing renewed attention amid a series of similar cases involving Indian nationals across the US.

The students, identified as 20-year-old Bhavya Linganagunta and 22-year-old Yamini Valkalpudi, were enrolled at the Stevens Institute of Technology and had recently moved to New Jersey at the time of the arrest.

According to police reports, the pair paid for only two items at the billing counter but attempted to leave the ShopRite outlet with an additional 27 products worth $155.61. Store employees alerted police, who arrived on the scene and confronted the students.

Bodycam footage released by the Hoboken Police shows them arresting two female international students from India for alleged shoplifting at a ShopRite. Both are graduate students at Stevens Institute of Technology (@FollowStevens) and are repeat shoplifters.

“Will this affect us… pic.twitter.com/yDq6S7DELF

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Bodycam footage, now circulating on X, shows the women telling officers they had a “limited balance” and had forgotten to pay for the other items. When informed they would be arrested, they pleaded with police to allow them to pay on the spot, with one offering to “pay double.” Their requests were denied.

Officers asked the students to sign a form barring them from returning to that ShopRite location before taking them into custody. They were later released but told they would have to appear in court.

The video also captures the students’ concerns about their future in the US. One is heard asking an officer: “Will this affect us for H-1B process or any job?” The officer responded: “Yes! If they run your information, it’s going to show that you were arrested.”