Bengaluru, Mar 21 (IANS): The family of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar thanked Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday for bringing the mortal remains of the medical student from Ukraine. Naveen was killed on March 1 in Kharkiv city during the shelling by the Russian forces.

Naveen's younger brother, Harsha Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, who was present at the Kempegowda international Airport (KIAL) in Bengaluru thanked the Chief Minister with a folded hand for bringing the mortal remains to Karnataka. His relatives and villagers who were also present at the airport expressed their gratitude to Chief Minister Bommai.

Manoj Rajan, the nodal officer appointed by the state government for evacuation of Karnataka students from Ukraine, stated that 572 Karnataka students have been brought back from Ukraine.

He explained that the body was kept at Kiev medical college after the authoroties were requested on humanitarian basis. The documentation was done through funeral agent.

The body was brought from Varsa Poland from Kiev and via Dubai, it reached to the Bengaluru airport.

The body of Naveen was handed over to his family. The government has made arrangement of ambulance to transport the body to his village in Haveri district.

Saleem Ahmad, Congress MLC, who was present at the airport stated that he came to pay homage to Naveen on behalf of the party.

He demanded change in the education system. "Thousands of students are forced to go out of the country for studies. Naveen could not get MBBS seat here even after scoring 96 per cent," he said.

"There are many fault lines in the NEET and students are meted out with injustice. The students from state should not suffer injustice. They should get opportunity to study. The government should prioritise and resolve this issue," he asserted.

Chief Minister Bommai, Health Minister K.Sudhakar and MP Shivakumar Udasi offered floral tribute to Naveen, before the mortal remains was handed over to the family. The family has announced that they would donate the body to a private medical college after conducting rituals.