A special task force, investigating the murder of two Indian students at the Louisiana University Campus, has announced a reward of US$ 5,000 to anyone providing evidence or tips which will lead to the arrest of the killers. Investigators fear that they might be running out of time to solve the case.

A private donor, who wished to remain anonymous, has donated US$ 4,000 to add to the US$ 1,000 reward that was already being offered for information leading to the arrest of the killers of doctoral students, Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma of Hyderabad and Kiran Kumar Allam of Kurnool.

Taskforce spokesperson Don Kelly said that while they had received several calls after releasing the sketches of two suspects earlier this week, they believed that people with information about Thursday's killing were not coming forward.

"We need that information.... The further away you get from an event, the less likely it's going to be solved, especially in this case," he said.

"It happened around the holidays when people are leaving and a lot of the victims' family members have returned to India," said Kelly. However, he added that the task force was not going to give up its investigations after a few days.

"We are in this for the long haul," he said.

The bodies of the two victims will reach India in the wee hours of December 23. Their family members have already left for India. The extra US$ 4,000, however, will only be paid if the information is received before midnight of Christmas Eve.