Update: Electrical Designer's Battery Case Dropped, Faces New Case for Violating No-Contact Order

On February 1, Gainesville Police Department Officer Gabriel Villali responded to the residence of Kunal Anil Surana, 30, after he called the police asking the victim to be removed due to an argument. 

The victim told police that she recently moved in with Surana after he wanted to get back in a relationship with her, and she said she hadn’t left the apartment because she was sick. She said that two days prior, Surana grabbed her wrist during an argument. She called 911 but Surana convinced her to hang up and say there was no emergency. 

The victim had bruises on her left wrist and right forearm. Surana had no visible injuries. 

Surana claimed the victim was attempting to “blackmail” him. Surana went on to accuse the victim of attacking him and claimed he didn’t touch her. 

Villali reported, “When [Surana] was asked about the bruising on the victim, he initially stated that he had no idea how she was bruised, stating she must have done it after he called 911 today. I confronted [Surana] with the fact the bruises were not fresh, and he stated that they were caused during sex. I told [Surana] the victim stated that the bruising occurred during an argument in which he grabbed [her]... [Surana] stated he was unaware the victim had any bruising on her. When asked about the victim calling 911 on [January 30], [Surana] stated that he initially told the victim to not get LEO involved and she hung up the 911 call telling them everything was okay. [Surana] then stated that he said nothing to the victim at all about calling 911. [Surana] then admitted that he was afraid ICE would get involved if they called the police because they are both international students.” 

A Facebook post shows Surana obtained a Master’s Degree from the University of Florida and started working for Akin Brooks Engineering in November 2024. According to court documents, Surana was born in India and he has lived in Gainesville for four years. 

It was originally reported that Surana was placed under a hold by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after his initial arrest in February, with the source of this information coming from the Alachua Chronicle daily booking log. However, it appears that either this was inaccurate or the detainer was wrongly placed, as Surana was able to post bond.

On March 30, Villali filed a sworn complaint against Surana for violating pretrial release convictions in a dating violence case.

The victim told police she was with a witness shopping when Surana approached them, stating, "I want to talk to you for a minute." The victim backed away and the witness got between them. Surana then disengaged and was seen with his roommate.

The roommate told police that he and Surana were shopping when they separated. At some point, Surana called the roommate advising that he saw the victim. The roommate told Surana to not approach the victim and meet him at the front of the store.

The incident occurred at a Walmart and Villali was able to obtain security footage. He reported that in the footage, "it appeared that [Surana] was following the victim through the store prior to trying to make contact with her. The victim turns to see [Surana] and then backs away... The witness stands between the victim and [Surana]. The witness appears to speak with [Surana]."

On April 2, prosecutors dropped Surana's domestic battery case. However, his pretrial release violation case remains open. Surana has not been arrested for the pretrial release violation, with the case remaining in sworn complaint status for now.

Editor's Notes: This article was updated on April 12 to reflect current events and presently available information.