Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

                                 25 Kirkpatrick Street, 3rd Floor, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901 (732) 745-3300

 

                                *News Release*         Date: July 1, 2010

 

 
 
 

       

 

 

 

 

 

Two additional teens charged in Old Bridge homicide

 

 

          Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan and Acting Chief Robert Bonfante of the Old Bridge Police Department announced that two additional males were arrested today on murder and murder conspiracy charges in the death of Dr. Divyendu Sinha, a 49-year-old township resident. Accordingly, four 17-year-old males and one 16-year-old male have now been charged with Dr. Sinha’s murder.

 

          In addition, charges of  aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit an aggravated assault were also filed today against the five juveniles after it was determined they were involved in a separate, unrelated altercation before they attacked and beat Dr. Sinha on June 25, 2010.

 

Specifically, the on-going investigation by Detective Greg Morris of the Old Bridge Police Department and Investigator Paul Miller of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office has revealed that these same five juveniles engaged in a motor vehicle chase with another motorist less than five minutes before they attacked Dr. Sinha. In that incident, the motorist, a Caucasian male, was able to flee from the attack, which occurred on Prests Mill Road in Old Bridge.

 

Before the motorist escaped, the juveniles threw objects at the motorist’s car, which was damaged. As a result, all five juveniles are also charged with criminal mischief.

 

All five remain in custody. The two juveniles arrested today, a 17 year old and a 16 year old, are scheduled to appear tomorrow morning for a preliminary hearing in Family Court before Superior Court Judge Roger W. Daley in New Brunswick.

 

Prosecutor Kaplan stressed that while the attack of Dr. Sinha appears to be random and unprovoked, particularly in light of the unrelated attack on  the Caucasian motorist only a few minutes earlier, a decision will be made on whether to file bias charges once the investigation is completed.

 

‘’The initial focus of the probe has been to determine who was responsible for the murder of Dr. Sinha,’’ Prosecutor Kaplan said.

 

‘’Now that five individuals have been arrested and charged, we will be making every effort to assess whether racial bias played a role in the attack and, if so, we will bring appropriate charges,’’ Prosecutor Kaplan said.

 

Once the investigation is complete, Prosecutor Kaplan will also consider whether to seek court permission to have the five juveniles tried as adults in Superior Court.

 

Under the law, the prosecutor’s office has 30 days to file the motion in Family Court and must show probable cause. Ultimately, the decision rests with a Superior Court judge.

 

Police began the investigation after receiving a call at 11:42 p.m. on June 25, 2010, and arrived to find Dr. Sinha had been beaten.

 

He was walking with his wife and two sons on Fela Drive in Old Bridge when the juveniles got out of a car and attacked Dr. Sinha and his two sons. No weapons were used in the assault. The two sons sustained minor injuries. Additional charges will be filed in that assault. The wife was not harmed.

 

Dr. Sinha was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he died on June 28, 2010. An autopsy showed he died from a head injury.

 

The juveniles’ names are, by law, being withheld because of their ages.

 

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Morris of the Old Bridge Police Department at (732) 721-5600, or Investigator Miller of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-4466.