Sudarshan planned to move to Uganda, but terrorists got him
“My brother made a name as a good businessman in Kenya. He was an innocent man, but they made him stand in line at the shopping centre in Nairobi and shot him on Saturday,” said N Ramprasad, elder brother of terror victim Sudarshan Nagaraj. An angry Ramprasad said: “People who killed my brother will suffer.’’
Sudarshan, 50, a bachelor from Bidadi, about 30 km from Bangalore, is a distant relative of one of the architects of modern Karnataka, Sir M Visvesvaraya.
The last time the family spoke to Sudarshan on Friday at 1.30 am, Sudarshan said he would move to Uganda from Nairobi, but no calls came after that. The family got worried and tried calling him, but did not get any response.
“Nearly 50 calls were made to him and we called the hotel on Saturday. They told us that the guest did not return and had informed them that he would go out to the shopping complex. We called the Indian Embassy who told us about Sudarshan’s death. We were asked to provide his identity proofs. We told them about his recent visit to Tirupati and return with tonsured head. The embassy confirmed and officially declared him dead,” said Govind Prasad, brother-in-law of the victim.
Narayan Swamy from the Indian Embassy later called and gave details of his driving licence, his wallet and other documents. On Tuesday, the family mailed the embassy an affidavit to claim the body which is expected to arrive on Thursday evening, added Prasad.
“For the last 15 years, he was taking care of our construction equipment business. Later he came up with Omsri Enterprises that deals with supply of books and stationery to schools at Ghana, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda. He collaborated with Abhimani Prakashana Publications for printing of notebooks and textbooks to be distributed in Africa,” Ramprasad told Express.
He is survived by sister Nagamani, brothers Ramprasad and Sridhar and Govind Prasad. The family moved to their ancestral property at Bidadi in 1984.
Abhimani Prakashana Publication owner Abhimani Venkatesh told Express, “Sudarshan was a gem of a person. Though he was distant relative of Visveswaraya he never showed any attitude. We have been doing business for 15 years. He used to take stationery from us and sell them in Africa. What has happened is sad.’’