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 cut
00:22short 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 Jagannuin 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 to
01:38the 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
01:51completed before being flown to Kochi. His son, Arvind Menon, who works in Bengaluru,
01:57travelled to Srinagar to facilitate the process. The mortal remains arrived in Kochi,
02:03where the community gathered for public homage at Changapuza Park before the final rides at
02:08Shantikavidam crematorium. My dad, mom, my sister and eight-year-old twin sons of my sister,
02:19four of them travel to Kashmir for tourism on 21st and on 22nd afternoon is when my sister calls me
02:28and says that there has been a terror attack and when I inquired that everyone is safe,
02:33I heard the news from her that my dad has been killed in front of my sister and in front of the kids.
02:44They heard the gunshot while they were on a horse ride. They jumped out to the house and then tried
02:51to escape and they crawled through a fence and once they crawled through the fence thinking it is safe,
02:57they found another guy, another terrorist, asking them to kneel down or be on the floor. Since they
03:05didn't understand what was the instructions, he shot another guy and then he asked them to recite
03:13Kalima, which 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.
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