Arjun laid to rest near his home in Kozhikode

Thousands of people from different parts of the State turn up for the funeral

Arjun, the truck driver from Kozhikode, whose body was recovered from the depths of river Gangavali in Ankola, Karnataka recently, was laid to rest in the premises of his newly-constructed house in Kannadikkal around 11.30 a.m. on Saturday, September 28. His brother Abhijith lit the funeral pyre as thousands stood witness.

Kannadikkal witnessed a funeral like never before as people from different parts of the State, including politicians waited for hours to get a glimpse of the body of a young man whom they had not even heard of two months ago. It is quite unusual that governments in two States joined hands to recover the body of a common man and kept up the search operation for over two months spending crores of rupees.

Arjun’s body that was recovered on Wednesday after 72 days since he went missing in the landslip at Shirur, was released after the required official formalities on Friday. The ambulance carrying the body was accompanied by Karnataka Police from Karwar Medical College to Thalappady, the State border. MLA of Karwar Satish Krishna Sail and Manjeshwaram MLA A.K.M. Asharaf had also accompanied the ambulance from Karwar. As it reached Azhiyur, the border of Kozhikode district around 6 a.m., it was received by Minister for Forests A.K. Saseendran, MLAs Thottathil Raveendran and K.K. Rema besides District Collector Snehil Kumar Singh.

The ambulance reached his house around 9.30 a.m. and was kept for public homage for some time before carrying out the rituals. The Kerala government took care of the funeral expenses while the Karnataka government provided a compensation of ₹5 lakh to the family. 

Published - September 28, 2024 06:24 pm IST