BHUBANESWAR: An eerie silence has befallen Ishani village in Balasore district’s Saragaon panchayat. There has been a beeline of political leaders, government officials and people from nearby localities since news broke on Tuesday that Prasant Satpathy died in the Pahalgam terror attack. At the home of the Satpathys, intermittent wailing rends the air.
Prasant’s mother Padmabati received the first call from her daughter-in-law Priyadarshini about the attack. “Words failed her. I heard her sob and all she could manage was: Maa, he is no more, terrorists shot him,” Padmabati stuttered. The wailing has not stopped since then.
Accompanied by Priyadarshini and nine-year-old son, Prasant (42) had been to Kashmir on a four-day holiday trip on April 19. The family was supposed to return to Delhi on Wednesday. Prasant’s sister Shrabani Satpathy, who stays in Haryana, said they were supposed to stay with her for two days before returning home. “I had bought a pair of trousers and shirt, and ordered a cake to celebrate my brother’s birthday,” said Shrabani as she continued to sob.
She said Prasant was alive for about an hour after being hit by the bullet on the left side of his head. “My sister-in-law sought help but the locals could not dare fearing attacks from terrorists. Timely medical support might have saved him,” she said.
Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, who is in J&K for a PAC meeting, met Priyadarshini and her son at the Police Control Room in Srinagar where bodies of the victims were kept after being brought from Pahalgam.
“By the time I arrived at the control room, his wife and son were there. They were inconsolable. They hugged me and asked - why did this happen? I was speechless, and had no words to express. I told them to feel free to approach me for whatever help they require,” she told TNIE.
Sarangi said she was in a meeting with top officials of J&K when the news broke. Everything was normal in Pahalgam, Gulmarg and other areas and all of a sudden, it stands changed, he added.
An accounts assistant at Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) in Balasore, Prasant was the second among four siblings, including three brothers. He was glue in the family and used to take care of his ailing in-laws too.
With him, the pillar of the Satpathy family is gone and so has a promise he made to his brother Sushant. “We will never be apart. Our children may get separated but not still we are alive. As the eldest in the family, I should have gone first but he departed. It was Prasant who had insisted that we never separate,” he said, fighting back tears.
Neighbours recall Prasant as a man of immense warmth, always lending a helping hand. “He had promised us a Shiv Lingam for the neighbourhood temple which is under construction. It is unbearable that we have to shoulder his body,” said a neighbour.
CM MAJHI TO ATTEND FUNERAL
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi will attend the funeral of Prasant Satpathy who died in the Pahalgam terror attack. Sources said, the CM himself offered to remain present with the Satpathy family in the hour of tragedy on Thursday.
Deputy CM KV Singh Deo, Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari, chief secretary Manoj Ahuja, DGP YB Khurania and Home secretary Satyabrata Sahu received the mortal remains at Bhubaneswar airport on Wednesday night.
The government has already made elaborate arrangements for the final rites at Ishani village. Officials from the district administration visited the village cremation field. Lok Sabha MP Pratap Sarangi and local MLAs met the family members. Earlier in the day, Majhi as well as leader of opposition Naveen Patnaik spoke to Prasant’s family members and offered all help they need.