E-Paper
Body of Indian student killed in Ukraine found: Bommai
Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar was killed on Tuesday last when he stepped out of his apartment for a supermarket to buy some provisions
Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said the body of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, 21, who was killed in war-torn Ukraine’s Kharkiv, has been located and that it will be brought to India when the shelling in the region ceases.
“The body has been found and is in a mortuary,” Bommai said in Bengaluru. He referred to his conversation with external affairs minister S Jaishankar and added the body has been embalmed. “There is still shelling happening there... once that is over, we will try and bring it... the [Indian] embassy is in touch with mortuary officials.”
Gyanagoudar, who was from Karnataka’s Haveri district and a fourth-year student at the Kharkiv National Medical University, was killed on Tuesday last when he stepped out of his apartment for a supermarket to buy some provisions. He became the first Indian casualty in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Around 500 students from Karnataka have returned to India from the war-torn country. “About 200 students from Karnataka are stranded in Kharkiv and taking shelter in bunkers. The Indian Embassy is trying to bring them back. We are in touch with the external affairs minister in this regard. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is monitoring it. A huge operation to airlift the students is on. It is being made possible due to the cordial relations of Modi with various countries,” Bommai said on Monday.
Bommai added a decision would be taken after consulting with the Centre to accommodate the students returning from Ukraine.
