New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday for bringing back the mortal remains of Naveen Shekharappa, the fourth-year Indian medical student who was killed in a shelling attack in Ukraine.
Conveying his gratitude in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, Bommai wrote, “I express my sincere thanks sir, for your concern about Naveen Shekharappa who died in Kharkiv, Ukraine war and diligently pursuing the repatriation of his mortal remains. With the effort of your good self the Naveen Shekharappa mortal remains coming to India has been appreciated by everybody in Karnataka which seemed to be impossible. I once again thank you on behalf of parents of Naveen and people of Karnataka for showing your deep concern. I will also mention special thanks for bringing thousands of students back to the country.”
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai thanks PM Narendra Modi for efforts on bringing back the mortal remains of Naveen Shekharappa Gyangoudar, who was killed in a shelling attack in #Ukraine️
The mortal remains of Naveen will reach Bengaluru at 2:45am on March 21. pic.twitter.com/5zWhQROUo8
– ANI (@ANI) March 20, 2022
Earlier on Friday, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had said that Naveen’s body would arrive in the Bengaluru airport on Monday (March 21).
Informing about the return of his mortal remains and their decision to donate his body for medical research, Naveen’s father Shankarappa had said, “My son’s body will reach Bengaluru on 21st at 3am. From there the body will reach our village by 9am. Then we’ll perform Pooja as per the Veera Shaiva tradition then we’ll keep it for the public view and then we’ll donate the body to SS Hospital Davanagere for medical studies… We got the message from the Haveri District Collector office and also got the message from the Emirates flight service.”
“Now, the sadness has gone away after learning that we will be able to see his body for the last time,” news agency IANS quoted Naveen’s father as saying.
Both Naveen’s parents thanked the authorities for bringing back their son’s body and said that they would find some solace now.
Naveen, a native of Chalageri in the Haveri district, was in the fourth year of his course in the Kharkiv medical college. He was in a bunker in Kharkiv and had gone out in the morning to exchange currency and to fetch some food when he was killed in a shelling attack.
Paying tributes to the deceased, CM Bommai had given a cheque of Rs 25 lakh to the bereaved family and assured a job to one of the family members.