Tears, heartbreak as bodies of Bengal tourists reach home

Leaders across political parties were present at the Kolkata airport when the bodies arrived.

The mortal remains of three tourists killed in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir arrived in West Bengal amid a wave of grief and anger among the relatives and local residents.

While the mortal remains of Bitan Adhikari and Sameer Guha arrived in Kolkata late on Wednesday night, Manish Ranjan’s kin received his body at Jhalda in Purulia district on Thursday morning.

People in hundreds joined the procession carrying the mortal remains of Manish amid slogans of “long live Manish Ranjan”.

All three had gone on a vacation to Pahalgam and were shot dead by terrorists. While Bitan was working as an IT professional at Florida in the U.S., Manish was an Intelligence Bureau officer posted in Hyderabad. Sameer was a Central government employee.

Leaders across political parties were present at the Kolkata airport when the bodies arrived. Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari met Bitan’s family. Mr. Adhikari expressed hope that both the Centre and the State government will announce separate financial compensation for the bereaved family.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kunal Ghosh also demanded compensation for the bereaved families. He urged the Central and State governments to divide the compensation money among the family members and not to leave the parents out.

The TMC leaders also took out a procession in Kolkata condemning the attack on tourists. The West Bengal unit of the BJP also held protests in different parts of the State.