An Indian software engineer working with scam-hit Satyam Computer Services was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Arkansas in the US. Akshay Vishal, 26, was shot in his legs in Little Rock, Arkansas on Tuesday, his father Lakshman Murthy, a BSNL employee, said in Hyderabad.

"He was near his home when somebody perhaps demanded some money. He was fired at and bullets hit him in the leg. Due to this, his arteries bled profusely which led to kidney failure," Murthy said.

The engineer had gone to the US in 2005, Murthy, a resident of Begumpet (Hyderabad), said.

The killing is the latest one in the series of murders of Indian students and professionals in the US. Arpana B Jinaga, an IT engineer in Seattle was found dead in her apartment on November 3 while an engineering student in Southern Illionis University T Soumya Reddy was found murdered in September. Her cousin Vikram Reddy, also a software engineer in Chicago, was also found dead nearby.