6 days on, bakery waiter cremated

German Bakery waiter Gokul Nepali, who was killed in the February 13 bomb blast at the iconic eatery, was cremated on Friday night.

German Bakery waiter Gokul Nepali, who was killed in the February 13 bomb blast at the iconic eatery, was cremated on Friday night.

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The city administration finally handed over the 27-year-old’s body to his maternal cousin, also an employee of German Bakery, after realising that his family would not be able to come to Pune.

Hindustan Times had reported on Friday that Gokul’s body was lying unclaimed five days after the blast because his mother could not reach Pune and members of the Nepali community in Pune could not contact the Nepal embassy.

Gokul’s cousin — Basant Nepali — and members of the Nepali Social Organisation of India approached the police on Friday afternoon to take over the body of his brother.

Gokul’s maternal uncle had faxed a letter to Bund Garden police station requesting that body be handed over to Basant.

Inspector Suhas Nadgauda held a meeting with representatives of the organisation, German Bakery’s owner, Smita Kharose, and manager Gopal Karkee, who is also from Gokul’s village, Navakot in Nepal.

The body was handed over to Basant after his identity was verified.

The compensation will be handed over to Gokul’s wife or mother, said the organisation’s president, Dilipsingh Vishwakarma.

He complained that the Nepal embassy did not respond to their phone calls even on Friday.

He demanded that Nepal should open its embassy in Mumbai to cater to the large number of Nepali citizens living in Maharashtra.

Vishwakarma said that organisation will help Gokul’s family travel to Pune.

Gokul worked in Goa as a salesman in clothes shop but quit and returned to Nepal. He, then, came back to India and, this time, found a job as a waiter at the bakery.