Bengaluru: The mortal remains of Indian student Naveen Shekharappa Gyangoudar, who was killed in a shelling attack in war-torn Ukraine️, arrived in Bengaluru airport in the early hours of Monday.
Family members of the medical student and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai were present at the airport, along with state government officials.
The family members paid their last respects to Naveen followed by the Chief Minister, who laid a wreath on the body.
The flight carrying the body of Naveen landed at Bengaluru airport at around 3:00 am and have been sent to his native village in the Haveri district of Karnataka.
The state chief minister meanwhile thanked the central government for bringing back the mortal remains of Naveen. "It's unfortunate that we lost him in the shelling," news agency ANI quoted Bommai as saying.
Earlier in the day, he also expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the same. "With the effort of your good self, the Naveen Shekharappa mortal remains are coming on Monday," Bommai wrote in the letter to the Prime Minister.
Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, an MBBS student, was a resident of Karnataka's Haveri district. The 21-year-old student of Kharkiv National Medical University was reportedly standing in a queue to buy food when he was killed in Russian shelling.
The Karnataka Chief Minister has handed over a cheque of ₹ 25 lakh to the family of Naveen Shekharappa and promised a job for a family member.
Earlier on Saturday, Shankarappa, father of Naveen said that the family members have decided to donate their son's body for medical research.
"My son wanted to achieve something in the medical field, that didn't happen. At least his body can be used by other medical students for studies. That's why, we at home, have decided to donate his body for medical research," Naveen's father said.