Requested PMO, MEA to help recover mortal remains of student killed in Ukraine: Karnataka CM

Mar 01, 2022

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 1 : Expressing grief over the death of an Indian national in shelling in Ukraine's Kharkiv, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday requested the Prime Minister Office (PMO) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to help recover mortal remains of the student.
He said that two persons were also there with the Indian student in Kharkiv and one of them got injured in shelling this morning.
Naveen Shekharappa, a medical student from Karnataka's Haveri died when Russian soldiers blew up a government building in Kharkiv this morning. Naveen was standing outside a grocery store when he was hit.
Speaking to media persons, Bommai said, "Two persons were with him (Naveen, a student who died in Ukraine). One of them also got injured. They are also from Chalageri and Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district."
"I know his family. They are very close to me. PM had spoken to the family. We will try our best to recover the body and bring it back to India. I have requested PMO and MEA to help us to recover mortals," the chief minister added.
Following the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke to the father of Naveen Shekharappa who died in Kharkiv today.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi shared the information and expressed condolences to the family.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a high-level meeting over the Ukraine crisis said that the entire government machinery is working round the clock to ensure that all Indians there are safe and secure, informed Bagchi. This was the second high-level meeting chaired by the Prime Minister during the day over the prevailing situation in Ukraine.
MEA on Monday said that the 'Special Envoys' including Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju, and Gen (Retd) VK Singh will travel to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate evacuations of stranded Indians amid ongoing Russian military operations.
The union government has launched Operation Ganga to bring back stranded students and Indian citizens from the conflict-torn Ukraine.