DAVANGERE: The body of medical student Naveen Shekharappa Gyana Goudar who was killed in Kharkiv in Ukraine during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war will finally arrive in Bengaluru on Monday.
Member of Parliament Shivakumar Udasi said External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has confirmed that the body is arriving from Kharkiv to Bengaluru through Poland. The body has been shifted to Poland and will be brought to Bengaluru via Dubai.
Meanwhile, Naveen's father Shekharappa, mother Vijayalakshmi and brother Harsha are anxiously waiting to receive the body and prepare for the final rites at their native village of Chalageri.
Naveen's brother Harsha confirmed the movement of the body, which will reach Dubai on Saturday evening (local time) and will then be brought to Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport on Monday morning at 3 am.
"From Bengaluru the body will be brought to Chalageri village via road by morning 11 am after which it will be placed before the public to pay their respects followed by the cremation," he added.
Naveen, 21, was killed in Kharkiv when he stepped out of the metro underground tunnel, where he and his friends were taking shelter, to get food from a supermarket on the morning of March 1.
Soon after Naveen’s friend informed the family about his death, Ministry of External Affairs officials too confirmed the news. However, with the war growing more intense, the shifting of the body got delayed. Indian diplomats got the body embalmed and kept in a mortuary in Kharkiv from where it was shifted to Warsaw, where it is situated at present.
Earlier, on March 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed authorities to make all possible efforts to bring back the mortal remains of Naveen. Karnataka CM Bommai on March 5 said that a ceasefire announcement by Russia has raised hopes of bringing back Naveen’s body to India. Bommai visited Naveen’s family at his village in Haveri district and handed over a cheque of Rs 25 lakh as compensation to Shekharappa.
Bommai had assured at the time that he was in constant touch with the Ministry of External Affairs and authorities in Delhi as well as the Ukrainian ambassador to find ways to bring the body of Naveen back. “I have been told that his body has been embalmed and kept in a mortuary. But taking it out of the country was difficult because of the fighting. However, with the ceasefire announcement, it may be possible to get his body back. I will follow up on the issue," the Chief Minister had said.
Shekharappa, who worked as an engineer in Abu Dhabi, returned to India some years ago and was working at South India Paper Mills Limited at Nanjangud. Naveen did his primary and higher primary at St Lawrence School in Ranebennur and later joined his father at Nanjangud. He completed his high school and pre-university in Mysuru. He appeared for NEET, but did not make the cutoff and decided to pursue medicine at Kharkiv National Medical University.
Shekharappa retired from service two years ago and started farming in Chalageri. Naveen's brother Harsha, who is pursuing his PhD in agriculture at GKVK in Bengaluru, said Naveen had secured 97 per cent in second PU, but could not do well in NEET, which forced him to secure admission in Ukraine's Kharkiv National Medical University. Naveen studied at Adarsha School in Debur village of Nanjangud taluk. He had visited his friends and schools six months ago. He was the topper in SSLC for the school in 2015-16 and had secured 607 marks out of 625.