The Chief Minister paid his respects and laid a wreath on the body at Bengaluru airport.
The body of Indian student Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar was brought back to India this morning, three weeks after he was killed during shelling in Ukraine. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai paid tribute and placed a wreath on the body at Bengaluru airport, from where it was taken to the student's native village Chalagere in Karnataka's Haveri district.
The 21-year-old student of Kharkiv National Medical University was reportedly standing in a queue to buy food when he was killed in Russian shelling on March 1.
Naveen's body was kept in a glass casket for people to pay their last respects. It would be taken through his village in a procession, said his family. His parents have decided to donate the body to the SS medical college in the Davanagere district of Karnataka.
"My son wanted to achieve something in the medical field, that didn't happen. At least his body can be used by other medical students for studies. That's why, we at home, have decided to donate his body for medical research," Shankarappa, Naveen's father had said earlier.
There was heavy police presence outside Naveen's house and the road leading to it were barricaded.
More than 200 policemen were posted at the village because of the Chief Minister's visit, and also to ensure smooth movement of people entering and exiting Naveen Shekarappa's house.
Russia had said that it will investigate Naveen's death after Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla claimed that the circumstances of his death are not absolutely clear.
"Russia will do everything it possibly can to ensure the safety of Indian citizens in the areas of intense conflict... and a proper investigation of this unfortunate incident," Russian Ambassador-designate Denis Alipov had said at a media briefing a day after the tragedy.