Mahendra B. Panjrolia, a 60-year-old Indian-origin male, died on the night of August 3, 2019, inside his family’s home on the 1900 block of Conwell Avenue in Philadelphia’s Bustleton neighborhood. Police were called to the residence around 9:31 p.m. for a shooting and found him in the living room with a severe gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene just minutes later.
The killing unfolded inside a home where Panjrolia had been with his wife and their adult
son, Sohan Panjrolia. Investigators said Sohan, then 31, loaded a rifle in a bathroom inside the house and accidentally discharged it once. He then allegedly came out of the bathroom and entered the living room, where his parents were watching television. Police said he pointed the weapon toward them and fired multiple shots at his father. Mahendra’s wife fled the home screaming after the gunfire.
Authorities identified Sohan Panjrolia as the suspect and said he left the scene still armed, driving away in a gray Toyota Camry. The car was later found unoccupied a few blocks away on the 9800 block of Clark Street. A witness reportedly told police they saw Sohan near the vehicle with a rifle and later heard another gunshot from a nearby wooded area. Police said Mahendra’s wife told investigators there had been no argument before the shooting and that she did not know her son owned a rifle.
After the killing, authorities launched a search for Sohan Panjrolia and warned that he should be considered armed and dangerous. Investigators believed he might have fled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, because he had previously attended Harvard University Extension School and had connections to the Harvard Square area. The search prompted Harvard University to issue a shelter-in-place alert near the John F. Kennedy School of Government while police and U.S. Marshals looked for him.
Sohan Panjrolia was arrested on August 6, 2019, near Harvard Square in Cambridge, reportedly in the area of John F. Kennedy Street near a Ben & Jerry’s. He was taken into custody without incident after a multistate manhunt. Reports said he was not armed when he was arrested, and authorities had not clearly stated whether the rifle used in the shooting had been recovered. Investigators also said Sohan had schizophrenia, and some reports stated police believed he may have been using narcotics, though no motive was publicly established.
Following his arrest in Massachusetts, Sohan Panjrolia appeared in Cambridge District Court on a fugitive-from-justice charge. A judge entered a not guilty plea on that charge, and he was ordered held without bail. He later waived rendition, meaning he agreed to be returned to Pennsylvania to face the Philadelphia homicide case. Available online reports identify him as the sole suspect arrested in connection with Mahendra Panjrolia’s death, but the sources reviewed did not provide a later trial result, conviction, acquittal, or sentencing outcome.
