Pahalgam terror attack: 65-yr-old Kochi man shot dead in front of daughter
A 65-year-old man from Kerala's Kochi city was gunned down by terrorists in front of his daughter and grandchildren in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam town.
Terrorists struck at a tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people, mostly tourists, and injuring several others.
A former Gulf expat and a resident of Edapally, N Ramachandran, loved to travel, family members recalled on Wednesday.
Ramachandran had left for Kashmir with his wife Sheela, daughter and her minor twin children, on Monday for holidays. The family had decided to go on vacation in Kashmir after his daughter flew home to Kerala from Dubai where she lived.
According to his family members, Ramachandran was shot dead by terrorists in front of his daughter and grandchildren. His wife Sheela, who had recently undergone heart surgeries, stayed back in the car.
Local councillor Santha Vijayan said, 'We had an executive committee meeting of the Nair Service Society (NSS) on Monday for which Ramachandran's elder brother Rajagopal had come. At the time, he had told me that Ramachandran had gone to Kashmir for a holiday with his family via Hyderabad. We are extremely sad because Ramachandran used to call me often for issues related to the water supply at his house. He often came for our local temple functions.'
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Ramachandran's friend, who did not want to be identified, said, 'His death is a terrible loss to our local community. He was leading a retired life in Kerala for the past couple of years after living around 20 years in the Gulf as an expat. His daughter lived in Dubai and his son worked in Bengaluru.'
'Ramachandran was a good human being. He helped everyone and he loved to travel also,' his friend said.
KV Thomas, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government's special representative in Delhi, said the Kerala native's mortal remains will be brought home by Wednesday evening.
'His remains would be brought by an Air India aircraft from Srinagar to Delhi around 1pm.
The sealed coffin will be transferred to an AI aircraft that will leave Delhi for Kochi around 4:20pm. It should reach Kochi by 7:30pm,' said Thomas.
The former MP said NORKA (Non-Resident Keralite's Affairs), the Kerala government department for welfare of non-resident Keralites, has opened a help desk and issued helplines since Tuesday night for anyone from the state who needed assistance.
'We spoke with the various private travel agencies who organised trips of Keralites to Kashmir. They have been working in coordination with us to rescue them,' he said.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan were among those who paid condolences to the families of those killed in the terrorist attack, including Ramachandran.
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