Indian student arrested in Germany for Tucson murder

Varun Batchigari, a 20-year-old Indian national and business analytics student at the University of Arizona, has been arrested in Germany following allegations of murdering his 19-year-old girlfriend, Julissa Rubi Salazar.

On August 6, 2026, Salazar was found unresponsive in her Tucson apartment after family members requested a welfare check. Responding firefighters noted injuries consistent with strangulation. Investigators allege that Batchigari took Salazar's cellphone and bank cards, using them to pay for transportation to Tucson International Airport before flying to Houston and then to Germany, where he intended to catch a connecting flight to India.

The arrest in Germany was a coordinated effort involving the Tucson Police Department, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Munich Police Department. Batchigari faces charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping in Arizona and is currently awaiting extradition to Pima County.