Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru,Apr 24: The mortal remains of Ramesh from Tumakuru, Mare Gowda from Adakamaranahalli, and Puttaraju from Haro Kyathanahalli, who died in serial suicide bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, reached city today afternoon.

Four of the bodies have already reached the city. They were flown into the city after completing the process of identification by a Sri Lankan Airlines flight which touched down at 2.30 am today.

All the seven who were victims of the blast were leaders of the JD(S) from Nelamangala region. Those whose mortal remains have already reached here are those of Hanumantharayappa and Laxminarayan from Kachanahalli in Nelamangala, Rangappa from Dasarahalli, and Shivakumar from Nelamangala. Out of them, the body of Rangappa was sent to his family home at Chokkasandra, Dasarahalli. The others were kept at the Nelamangala Junior College ground to enable people to pay their last respects.

MLC, E Krishnappa, said that identification of bodies took lot of time and on the basis of the photos, the bodies were identified, and it was very difficult to identify the bodies. He added that the catastrophe happened when having breakfast at Shangrila Hotel, adding that unfortunately, he and others have lost seven of their close friends.

Thimmarayappa, who accompanied the mortal remains, said that there is an environment of fear and apprehension in Sri Lanka. He said that no one is checked at hotels. He added that all the 300 who were killed in the bomb blast were kept in a single room. "There is curfew in that country. It is very difficult to move about even in cars. When we went to claim the mortal remains, two bombs had gone off. My advice to people is to desist from undertaking tour of Sri Lanka now," he requested.