Shivamogga (Karnataka) [India], April 23 (ANI): The family of Manjunath, a victim of the Pahalgam terror attack, is waiting for his body to return to Shivamogga, Karnataka. His brother-in-law, Pradeep, expressed the family's grief, stating that yesterday was the worst day for them, as his sister and her son are fine, but her husband has died. They are expecting the body to arrive by tomorrow morning.

His family said he last called two days before the attack, which happened during a routine assignment in a remote area. Authorities have informed the family of the return schedule.

Manjunath, who had travelled to Kashmir on April 8, was among those killed in the terrorist ambush in Pahalgam. His sister stated that he had been in touch with the family until two days prior to the incident.

'They went on the 8th of this month and were expected to return on the 24th. He messaged the group and wished our mom a happy anniversary. Pallavi, his sister-in-law, called and spoke to us. According to the information, they'll be coming tomorrow,' the victim's sister told ANI.

His mother, overwhelmed with emotion, recounted that she had pleaded with him not to go.

'We were watching TV yesterday when we got this information. Several leaders have met us. They (Manjunath) went on Friday. I asked them not to go there, but they convinced me and went to Kashmir. They called me the day before yesterday,' she said.

She added, 'They said they're going to a remote area for rounds and activities, but they haven't called us for the last two days. Govt authorities are there, they'll be coming tomorrow...'

Pradeep, Manjunath's brother-in-law, described the tragedy as the worst day in their lives.

'Yesterday was the worst day for our family... My sister and her son are fine, but her husband has died. We are expecting them here by tomorrow morning,' he told ANI.

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the tragic terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed the lives of innocent tourists on Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met the families of the victims outside the Police Control Room in Srinagar.

Earlier, the Union Home Minister paid his tribute to the victims of the attack, which had left the Kashmir Valley and the nation in collective grief and deep mourning, by laying a wreath in a poignant ceremony in Srinagar.

Family members whose faces were etched with profound sorrow were seen pleading with the Home Minister, as they quivered with grief, expressing the depth of their pain following the tragic loss of their loved ones in the attack.

The attack, which unfolded on Tuesday in the picturesque Pahalgam area of Anantnag district, turned a place once known for its tranquillity into a site of mourning. The attack was one of the biggest terror attacks in the region after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. (ANI)