Bhubaneswar: It was a long-awaited family trip to his dream destination. He wanted to his show family the ‘heaven on earth’. But little did he know it would be his last.
Prasant Kumar Satpathy, a resident of Ishani village in Odisha’s Balasore district, fell to gunshots in the Pahalgam terror attack, leaving his accompanying Priyadarshini and nine-year-old son completely shattered. Hours before being hit by a bullet on the head, the 41-year-old had sent videos of himself walking in the snow to his siblings and friends back home.
Speaking to a local channel, his sister Shrabani Satpathy, who stays in Haryana, said that they were to take a flight from Srinagar to Delhi today (April 23). “They were supposed to stay with me for two days and return to Odisha on Saturday. I had also planned to celebrate my brother’s birthday here,” said the inconsolable Shrabani.
Prashant had travelled to Srinagar with his family on April 19.
An accounts assistant with Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) in Balasore, Prasant had saved for months for this trip. “He recently availed LTC and was so excited about this trip,” his elder brother Sushant told TNIE.
The family received information about the terror attack at around 3 pm “… When we called the toll-free number, they just informed us about the death of my younger brother,” he had earlier told the media.
Amar Kumar Das, a childhood friend of the deceased, was to accompany him on this trip. “I couldn’t go due to work commitments. Prasant shared videos and photos from their tour in the morning and hours later we learnt of his death,” TOI reported, quoting him.
Bhubaneswar MP Aparjita Sarangi met his wife and son at the Police Control Room in Srinagar, where bodies of the victims were kept after being brought from Pahalgam. The MP is in J&K for a PAC meeting.
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His younger brother Jayant and sister Shrabani were at the Delhi airport to receive his mortal remains. It will be flown to Bhubaneswar and arrive here at around 9.45 pm. “His last rites will be conducted in Balasore,” his sister added.
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