The mortal remains of N Ramachandran, a 65-year-old from Edappally, Kochi, who was tragically killed in the Pahalgam terror attack, have been brought home. Ramachandran was among 26 tourists gunned down by militants in Kashmir’s Baisaran valley. His body was received at Kochi airport and kept for public homage at Changampuzha Park before the cremation at Shanthikavadam Crematorium. WATCH.
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00:00The body of N. Ramachandran, the 65-year-old Kochi resident who was tragically killed in the
00:08Pahalgam terror attack, has finally been brought home. His return marks a somber moment for Kerala
00:14as family, friends and the community gather to pay their last respects to a man whose life was
00:21cut short during a family vacation in Kashmir.
00:30N. Ramachandran, a native of Ida Palli in Kochi, was among the 26 innocent tourists killed
00:53in the brutal terrorist attack at Pahalgam in Jagnu in Kashmir. The attack occurred on Tuesday
00:59afternoon as Ramachandran, accompanied by his daughter Arathi and twin grandsons, was enjoying
01:05a walk on the scenic Baisaran meadow. His wife, Sheila, who had recently undergone angioplasty,
01:12stayed back at the hotel, while Ramachandran set out for sightseeing with his family.
01:18The terrorists, disguised in fatigues, opened fire indiscriminately on tourists, turning a peaceful
01:25holiday into a nightmare. In a harrowing ordeal, Arathi managed to escape with her children,
01:32but witnessed her father being gunned down before her eyes. The news of the tragedy was conveyed
01:38to the family by Arathi herself, who called relatives from Kashmir immediately after the incident.
01:45Ramachandran's body was initially shifted to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar, where formalities were completed
01:51before being flown to Kochi. His son, Arvind Menon, who works in Bengaluru, traveled to Srinagar to
01:59facilitate the process. The mortal remains arrived in Kochi, where the community gathered for public
02:05homage at Changapuza Park, before the final rides at Shantikavidam Crematorium.
02:10My dad, mom, my sister and eight-year-old twin sons of my sister, four of them traveled to
02:21Kashmir for tourism on 21st. And on 22nd afternoon is when my sister calls me and says that there has
02:30been a terror attack. And when I inquired that everyone is safe, I heard the news from her that
02:37my dad has been killed in front of my sister and in front of the kids. They heard the gunshot while
02:46they were on a horse ride. They jumped out of the house and then tried to escape. And they crawled
02:53through a fence. And once they crawled through the fence thinking it is safe, they found another guy,
02:58another terrorist, asking them to kneel down or be on the floor. Since they didn't understand
03:07what was the instructions, he shot another guy. And then he asked them to recite Kalima,
03:14which is a Muslim Islamic verse. And since they didn't understand what was the ask,
03:21he immediately shot him on the head and he died on the spot.
03:25Ramachandran was a Gulf returnee having worked in Qatar and the UAE
03:30for several years before returning to Kochi with his wife four years ago.