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A peaceful family holiday turned into a nightmare when 40-year-old Bitan Adhikary, a software engineer with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), was shot dead by terrorists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Bitan had been living and working in Florida, USA, and had flown down to Kolkata on April 8 with his wife Sohini and their three-year-old son to visit family and travel around India.
The family had gone to Kashmir for a vacation last week and were supposed to return home on Thursday. But just a day before their planned return, tragedy struck.
On Wednesday afternoon, terrorists opened fire in Pahalgam, killing at least 26 people, including Bitan. His wife and child, fortunately, survived the attack and are safe.
“My heart goes out to the families of the victims”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her condolences in a post on X (formerly Twitter), after speaking to Bitan’s wife over the phone. She assured the family that the state government was doing everything it could.
“My heart goes out to the families of the victims of the devastating terrorist attack on the tourists in Jammu and Kashmir today. One of the victims, Sri Bitan Adhikari, is from West Bengal. I have talked with his wife over phone. Though no words are enough to console her in this hour of grief, I have assured her that my government is taking all steps to bring back his mortal remains to his house at Kolkata,” Banerjee wrote.
Father and brother shattered by the loss
Back in Kolkata, Bitan’s elderly father is struggling to cope with the devastating loss of his son. He told Anandabazar Patrika that Bitan had wanted the whole family to go on the trip, but he had encouraged his son to travel only with his wife and child.
“He wanted to take all of us along. But I told him to go with my daughter-in-law. I spoke to him today as well, even in the afternoon. What happened after that,” he said, unable to continue.
Bitan’s brother shared that he had spoken to Bitan just hours before the attack, and they were making plans for a longer family vacation once Bitan returned from Kashmir.
“I spoke to my younger brother this morning. He told me that once he returned from Kashmir, we would plan an extended holiday nearby. We had no idea it would be the last time we would speak.”
State government promises swift return of the body
Bengal minister Aroop Biswas visited the grieving family in Kolkata and said that the state government was in close contact with central officials and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to ensure that Bitan’s body is returned to Kolkata without delay.
“The state Home Department and the Resident Commissioner in New Delhi are in touch with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Jammu and Kashmir government to ensure that the body is brought back as soon as possible,” he told reporters.
One of the worst civilian attacks in recent times
The shooting in Pahalgam, a popular tourist destination in south Kashmir, has been described as one of the most brutal attacks on civilians in the region since the Pulwama attack in 2019. At least 26 people, including two foreign nationals, were gunned down in cold blood, with many others injured.
The incident prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, to cut short his trip and return to India. Union Home Minister Amit Shah flew into Srinagar late Wednesday night to assess the situation. He met with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for a detailed review.
Currently, security forces are carrying out a search operation in the region, trying to track down the attackers, who are believed to be affiliated with the terrorist group The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
A family broken, a community in mourning
The death of Bitan Adhikary has deeply shaken his family, friends, and colleagues, not just in Kolkata but also in Florida and across the TCS global network. His tragic death has become one of the many personal stories behind the numbers in this horrific attack.
As the country mourns yet another loss to terrorism, Bitan’s wife and son now begin the long journey home—without the man they had set out on vacation with, but carrying memories that no violence can erase.
