PTI Photo
Bengaluru, March 4 (PTI): Karnataka BJP MLA Arvind Bellad has said the body of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagouda, who was killed in shelling in Ukraine on March 1, would occupy space that could be utilised to evacuate 10 to 12 stranded people from the war-torn country.
Underlining that the Government of India as well as the Karnataka government have been making every effort to bring the body of Naveen from Kharkiv in Ukraine, the Hubballi Dharwad West MLA stressed that the place where the body is kept is a war zone and it was difficult to bring it back to India under current circumstances.
It is a war zone. You all are showing the ground situation on television through your channels. Body will be brought once the flight services become operational, Bellad said on Thursday.
In a situation when bringing the living people is proving to be difficult, it will be even more difficult to bring the body because it occupies more space. In place of it, 10 to 12 people can be brought, the BJP MLA said.
The ruling party legislator also noted that students migrate to chase their dream of getting a medical degree abroad because of hefty fees in India.
Naveen, a native of Chalageri in Haveri district, was holed in with others in a bunker in Kharkiv. On March 1, he ventured out to get some food, water and exchange currency notes when he was killed in shelling.
The body of the 22-year-old youth is lying in a morgue in Kharkiv. His parents have been requesting the Centre to get his son's body back home for the final rites.
Meanwhile, Venkatesh Vaishyar, whose son Amit (23) and nephew Suman (24) from Chalageri are also stuck in the war-ravaged country, told PTI that they have been lodged in a school 20 kilometres away from Kharkiv along with about 1,700 Indians.
Amit and Suman could not board the train to the safe zones as the Ukraine authorities gave priority to women and the natives of the country, he added.
The Indians staying in the school were given a loaf of bread each after three days, Vaishyar said. Now, there is chilling cold there and they have no food too. I don't know how our children and others are managing, he said.
