Indian student who stabbed two teens with fork while on the run charged in Boston; faces a fine of up to 10 years and $250,000 – The Times of India

A 28-year-old Indian national has been charged in Boston after allegedly stabbing two 17-year-old passengers with a metal fork during a Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Frankfurt last month. The incident forced the plane to divert to the United States, the Justice Department said.Federal prosecutors said Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli entered the country on a student visa but no longer had legal status. He now faces two charges of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm while traveling on an aircraft. A federal grand jury returned the indictment Thursday. He has been in custody since his arrest on October 27 and will be arraigned in Boston at a later date.According to charging documents, the incident occurred on October 25 on Lufthansa Flight 431, shortly after meal service. Prosecutors said one of the victims, identified as Minor A, was sleeping in a middle seat when he woke up and saw Usiripalli standing over him. Usiripalli allegedly “used his right hand to strike Minor A in the left collarbone area with a metal fork.”He then turned to a second teen sitting nearby. “Usiripalli then allegedly jumped at Minor B… and struck Minor B in the back of the head with the fork,” prosecutors said. Minor B suffered a laceration to the back of his head.According to prosecutors, the situation escalated when the flight crew tried to intervene. Usiripalli allegedly “raised his hand, formed a gun with his fingers, put it in his mouth and pulled an imaginary trigger.” He then “turned towards a female passenger and struck her with his hand” and also attempted to strike a crew member.The violence forced the pilots to divert the plane to Boston Logan International Airport, where law enforcement took him into custody as soon as the plane landed.Usiripalli had previously been admitted to the United States on a student visa and was enrolled in a master’s program in biblical studies. However, authorities confirmed that he no longer had legal immigration status at the time of the alleged attack.If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston, with assistance from the FBI, Massachusetts State Police, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection.Prosecutors said the details in the charging documents remain allegations. Usiripalli is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.In a statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed that “the non-citizen was unlawfully resident in the United States at the time of the crime.” Federal prosecutors described