NIA team visits Bitan Adhikari’s residence

Kolkata: A team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday visited the family members of Bitan Adhikari, one of the 26 people killed in the Pahalgam terror attack, in Kolkata to record their statements, officials said.

The NIA team spoke to the members of the family of the tourist, who was shot dead in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam in Kashmir on April 22, they said. A team of the law enforcement agency with a specific focus on counter-terrorism had on Saturday visited the residence of Samir Guha, another deceased in the Pahalgam terror attack, in Behala area to record statements of his family members.

Three victims — Bitan Adhikari (of Baishnabghata, Kolkata), Samir Guha (Sakher Bazar, Kolkata) and Manish Ranjan (Jhalda, Purulia) — were from Bengal.

Special teams of the NIA have started reaching out to eyewitnesses, including tourists who survived the deadly attack by terrorists in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam, officials had said on Friday. Meanwhile, reaching out to grieving families, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the kin of three Bengal tourists killed in the terrorist attack at Pahalgam. Similarly in a gesture of solidarity, she also declared Rs 10 lakh in compensation for the family of Armyman Havildar Jhantu Ali Sheikh, who was martyred during an encounter with terrorists in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir, shortly after the Pahalgam attack.

The compensation of Rs 10 lakh will be divided into Rs 5 lakh each between the wife and parents in cases where the victim is survived by both, as in the case of Bitan Adhikari, whose wife and parents live separately.

Additionally, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced special measures for the family of software engineer Bitan Adhikari, taking into account his parent’s financial difficulties. Apart from compensation of Rs 10 lakh, Banerjee said that government job will be offered to the wife of Jhantu Sheikh of Nadia. The families of Samir Guha of Behala and Manish Ranjan, IB officer from Jhalda, Purulia the other two victims from the state will also get Rs 10 lakh compensation.

“It is the government’s commitment to stand by people in times of crisis. If any of the victims’ kin wants job, we will provide assistance,” said Banerjee.

The Chief Minister who had condemned the terror attack said: “We will not bow down to terrorism. One has to progress in life overcoming grief and odds.

The state government is just providing assistance so that those who have lost their family members can return to normal life.With Agency Inputs