A family trip to Jammu and Kashmir turned into a nightmare when a Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) employee, Bitan Adhikari, based in Florida, United States, was killed in the Pahalgam attack. The 40-year-old software engineer had flown to Kolkata on April 8 with his wife and 4-year-old son to meet his family here and for a picnic. The family went to Kashmir last week and was supposed to return home by Thursday. But just a day before their planned return, a gruesome attack scattered their life's path.
The terror attack that claimed the lives of 28 people and several others were injured on Tuesday afternoon, April 22, in Pahalgam, also known as 'mini Switzerland', after terrorists opened fire on tourists, also killing TCS engineer Bitan Adhikari, his wife, and his child survived the attack and are safe. This was the gruesome terror attack in the history after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Also Read | Pahalgam Terror Horror: Tourists Gunned Down in Baisran Valley, Survivors Recount Chilling Ordeal.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her condolences in a post on X (formerly Twitter), after speaking to Bitan’s wife over the phone. She assured the family that the state government was doing everything it could.
“My heart goes out to the families of the victims of the devastating terrorist attack on the tourists in Jammu and Kashmir today. One of the victims, Sri Bitan Adhikari, is from West Bengal. I have talked with his wife over phone. Though no words are enough to console her in this hour of grief, I have assured her that my government is taking all steps to bring back his mortal remains to his house at Kolkata,” Banerjee said in a post on X.
West Bengal Minister Aroop Biswas met the Adhikari family and said, "I received the news from West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, and I came here to meet engineer Bitan Adhikari's (a resident of West Bengal) family. CM Mamata Banerjee has also spoken to the wife of the deceased. We are trying to bring them back to the state as soon as possible."
According to eyewitnesses and survivors, six terrorists dressed in Army uniforms killed tourists on the spot. Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his Saudi Arabia trip and landed in Delhi on Tuesday night. PM chaired a high-level meeting immediately after landing in India and took an update on the Pahalgam terror.