Hemanth Kappanna, the engineer who returned to Bengaluru after being fired by US' General Motors, asked, "I'm still bewildered. Why me?" Kappanna's research with two other PhD students in 2013 helped expose Volkswagen's conspiracy to lie about its diesel cars' emissions. "The director called me and said, 'It's nothing personal, thanks for the service'," Kappanna said about his job loss.