Karnataka: When will Pahalgam terror attack victims, families reach Bengaluru? Details here

The bodies of three people from Karnataka who were killed in a terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday will be flown home today (Wednesday) night. The families will accompany the mortal remains of the departed.

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Bharat Bhushan (41), a techie and a resident of Mathikere in Bengaluru was killed by terrorists in Pahalgam when he was holidaying with his wife Sujata and three-year-old son. Bharat, who is from Ranebennur in Haveri district, had left for Kashmir four days back. His mortal remains will be flown to Bengaluru on Wednesday night around 10.45 pm.

 

Madhusudhan Somishetty, a techie from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, was a resident of Bengaluru’s Ramamurthy Nagar. Madhusudhan’s family of fou -- wife Venkata, daughter Medha and son Mukund -- had gone to Kashmir on Sunday along with three other families. But as fate would have it, the terrorists gunned him down when he was sitting alone, while the others were at a distance buying food. The terrorists had asked Madhusudan if he was a Muslim and gave him a copy of the Quran to read. They also asked him to remove his pants to identify his religion. When he refused to do so, he was shot in the head. 

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The family hails from Nellore in Andhra and had settled in Bengaluru a few years back. The body of Madhusudhan will reach Chennai via Mumbai and will be taken to his native village in Andhra Pradesh for the last rites.

 

Manjunath Rao, a real estate businessman from Shivamogga in Karnataka also died in the terror attack. Rao had reached Kashmir along with his wife Pallavi and son Abhijeya for a holiday four days back and had called his family back home on Tuesday morning to inform them they were safe after the cloud burst in the valley the previous day. However, he was killed by terrorists in Pahalgam on Tuesday afternoon. The family had gone to Kashmir (through an agency) to celebrate the success of their son, who scored 98 per cent in the PU exams. 

 

Pallavi, a manager with the Mamcos in Birur, while narrating her ordeal in the valley said, “It is my bad luck we came here for a holiday. There were at least 500 tourists on this hill known as 'mini Switzerland' (Baisaran) in Pahalgam and we went uphill on horseback. Once we reached the hilltop, we heard gunshots and dismissed it as some military activity. As my son was hungry my husband went to the nearby eatery. I noticed people running and took my son along and reached the eatery only to find my husband lying in a pool of blood. They had fired a single shot into his head. The terrorist was standing before me. I told him 'mere pati ko mare ho na, mujhe bhi maaro' ( since you have killed my husband, go ahead and kill me too). My son also told him 'ku**e, mere papa ko mara hai, hum dono ko bhi maar do’ (You killed my father. Now kill the both of us). He told us 'tumko nahi maarenge, Modi ko boldo' (I will not kill you. Go and report to Modi) and he left," recalled Pallavi, adding that three locals escorted them to safety and kept chanting 'Bismillah' while climbing down the hill by foot.

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A relative confided that Manjunath had rarely travelled outside Karnataka and visiting Kashmir had been his dream. Ironically, the family left for Kashmir despite his mother’s warning. Manjunath’s mother had recalled the “Roja” movie (where the hero gets kidnapped by terrorists) and cautioned him that it might not be safe to go to Kashmir and he had in turn convinced her that it was safe and many neighbours had visited the place recently.

 

Manjunath Rao's mortal remains will reach Bengaluru on Wednesday past midnight and will be taken to Shivamogga by road.

 

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who held a meeting of senior officials, has assigned Karnataka Labour Minister Santhosh Lad to coordinate the efforts to help the aggrieved families bring home the bodies and also to coordinate with Kashmir authorities to facilitate the safe return of the stranded Karnataka tourists from Kashmir.

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Lad, along with a team of officials, landed in Srinagar on Wednesday morning, met Pallavi and other aggrieved families and helped them identify the bodies and complete the formalities.

 

The Karnataka government has set up three helplines - 080 43344334/43344335/43344336/43344342 to assist the families of Karnataka tourists stranded or missing in Kashmir and has appealed to the tour operations, travel agents and family members to provide details on the helplines. 

India