Body of man killed in Kuwait fire arrives in Kolkata; BJP's Agnimitra Paul attacks Mamata govt

KOLKATA: The body of Dwarikesh Pattanayak, who died in the Kuwait fire tragedy on Saturday morning arrived at Kolkata airport. West Bengal Minister Sujit Bose and BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul were among those who paid their last respects to the resident of the Paschim Medinipur district of the state.

Talking to ANI, Sujit Bose said, "The state government will do everything required." Asked about compensation given to victms family, Bose said he will not be able to respond over this." Meanwhile, BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul has demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation for the family of the deceased and asked the State government to sponsor the education of his teenage daughter.

"We demand from the state government that compensation of minimum Rs 10 lakhs should be given to the victim's family and sponsor the education of the 14-year-old daughter of the deceased who has to appear in the board exams next year." Paul lashed out at the state government for not being able to provide employment opportunities to people in West Bengal which forced them to visit other states and countries looking for employment.

"It's true that any mishap that happens in different parts of the country includes migrant labourers from West Bengal. People are going to Bihar and Kerala for employment and to work as labourers. It's a reality that there are no employment opportunities in Bengal. Mamata Banerjee should explain why people have to go outside the state to look for employment," said Paul.

Forty-five Indians were killed in a fire at a labour accommodation in Kuwait's Mangaf on June 12. Among the deceased seven were from Tamil Nadu, three from Andhra Pradesh and one each from Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab, and West Bengal, in addition to the 23 people from Kerala.

An IAF plane carrying the bodies of the deceased Indians landed in Kochi on Friday where where the bodies of those from southern Indian states were given to authorities, and then the plane continued to Delhi's Palam airport. Union Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh who had gone to Kuwait after the incident was on the plane accompanying the mortal remains of the victims.

He emphasised that usually it takes 10-15 days, but at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's and EAM Jaishankar's request, we have been able to bring the mortal remains of those Indian nationals who lost their lives in the deadly fire incident. "Usually it takes 10-15 days, but at the request of PM Modi and EAM Jaishankar, we have been able to bring the mortal remains of those 45 Indian nationals," he said.