The police said Chanda, who lived with his wife and teenage daughter in New York's Bronx neighbourhoood, was returning home at night last weekend after buying packing tape from a nearby store.
Two men followed him into his building and grabbed him from behind on the second-floor staircase. One of the suspects struck Chanda in the head with a metal object while the other stole USD 15 from him and fled from the scene.
Chanda was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Friends and neighbours of Chanda described him as "a good father, a good husband, a good human being. He had no enemies," a report in the New York Post said.
Chanda's friend Mohammed Solaiman Ali said he wanted to do a lot of good things for the community. Chanda and his wife Chaya had lived in their modest apartment for 28 years, raising their 16-year-old daughter there.
"I don't know why he was a target," Ali said. "He was such a nice person."
He said Chanda was planning to start a non-profit to help reduce unemployment in the Bronx and also wanted to open a small business to provide employment to others.
