This publication chose to wait until the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department released his identification and confirmed the information it had received from various trustworthy sources.
On Saturday, at about 6 p.m., detectives working the case released the victim's identity, Raveesh "Ravi" Kumar Kumra, 66, the former owner of Saratoga's historic The Mountain Winery on Pierce Road. They also released a suspect sketch of one of the possible assailants.
Google searches under that name yielded much information about Kumra and his life.
18630 Withey Road, the mansion's address where the killing took place, is listed as the address for the Global Oneness Foundation according to Charitystat.com. Robert Hanfling is noted as a contact.
The Watchdog.net website confirms Charitystat's listing as the same information for the foundation. It's also listed as a nonprofit group on the nonprofitzone.net site.
What is the so-called Oneness Movement?
It then goes on to state that the year 2012 is "the year of the awakening" to witness "the fulfillment of Sri Amma Bhagavan's vision. Divine grace has increased multi folds. Thousands of people are experiencing the presence and are blessed with Awakening. At the same time millions are moving into Awakened states as the phenomenon unfolds. Here are the figures of the people who are Awakened and in Awakened states across the planet."
There is also a Foundation for World Awakening that is registered as being headquartered in Monte Sereno. And nonprofitfacts.com gives a Monte Sereno P.O. Box as its location, too.
- Western Cellular Management, Inc.
- San Francisco Ivds, Inc.
- South Bay Ivds, Inc.
- Slo Cellular, Inc.
- Foundation for World Awakening, California Inc.
- Napa Ivds, Inc.
- Global Oneness Foundation
- Light Up Malawi Inc.
- Tesla Capital LLC
- Living In Awareness LLC
- Western Cellular Management Inc
- Oneness Movement
- Foundation for World Awakening, California Inc.
- Slo Cellular, Inc.
Some of these entities are found as being active on the California Secretary of State's business search database, such as Western Cellular Management Inc, which is registered in Kumra's name.
Corporationwiki.com lists the following people living at the address:
- Raveesh K. Kumra
- Harinder Kumra
- Rajesh Kumra
- Victoria Simone Swan
- Harinder Rani Kumra
- Raveesh K. Kumra
- Victoria S. Swan
- Harinder Humra
Harinder Kumra is the deceased's wife, the woman who called 911 to report her husband lying on the floor after the home had been ransacked by an unknown number of assailants, police say.
Community Reaction
A Mountain Winery employee, who declined to comment on the homicide, said Kumra sold The Mountain Winery to current owner William Hirschman and his three other co-owners in March of 1999.
Hirschman said the winery extended its condolences to Kumra's family, but declined to answer other questions about the case.
Those who knew him at the winery said he was an India-born multi-millionaire who made his fortune through hard work and a good work ethic. They described him as an accomplished businessman, a venture capitalist who owned the historic Saratoga property for about four years.
Saratoga Mayor Chuck Page said although he hadn't met Kumra personally, he was still saddened by the tragedy. "What concerns me the most is the way it [the homicide] presumably happened," he said. "Breaking into a home at 1:30 a.m. ... It gives us all pause to think about our current situation and how safe we are and whether we're protected and how safe we are in our homes."
Page added that as with the death of anyone in our community, "It's always a sad thing. My heart goes out to his family."
An email to Kumra's family was not immediately returned.
RELATED COVERAGE:
Updated: Monte Sereno Man Killed in Home Invasion
Former Mountain Winery Owner Raveesh 'Ravi' Kumar Kumra Killed in Monte Sereno Home Invasion
Jeff McClanahan
I think that Dr. McClanahan's comments are appropriate in that community discussion should be open. The whole point of these comment sections are for that. A few years back, I had worked at the Kumra's home. While I had only met Mr. Kumra once, I do recall that there was multiple mentions of fear for the safety of family members as well as other issues that made me suspicious the moment that news came out about a robbery and homicide. This article seems to be focused on the facts and information about Mr. Kumra, but not a memorial page (in which case what would be appropriate would be different). I hope that the individuals who committed this horrible act are caught, and I think that people should speak up, and keep the situation open and in discussion. Community discussion and maintaining this in our consciousness will assist in solving it more than if the community remains unaware of the details and quickly moves on.
I know Ravi as intelligent person, who teahes me fibonacci numbers in relation with natural flowers. Even though he was a technocrat, but donated thousands of Dollars to Hindu Temple in Fremont and Hindu Temple Southbay in Sunnyvale to support the community. Last time, we discussed Fuel Cell technology and its future. My prayer are with family. Rajinder Sharma