The Punjab government will facilitate the return of the bodies of victims of the Oak Creek tragedy from the US to India for cremation at their native places. The government will bear the full expense of transportation from the US to the victims’ native villages, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal assured the victims’ families Monday evening.
Mr Badal had called on the families of Sita Singh and Ranjit Singh, the two brothers who lost their lives in the tragic shootout in the Oak Creek gurdwara. Mr Badal conveyed his personal sympathies, and those of his government and expressed solidarity with the bereaved families.
The CM also called up Indian ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao late Monday night and asked her to extend full cooperation to the hapless families in the US both in providing local relief as well as in expediting the return of the bodies to India.
A spokesperson of the chief minister’s office said here on Tuesday afternoon that Mr Badal has sought the cooperation of the Indian embassy in the US to facilitate the return of the bodies.
Earlier, US envoy in India Nancy Powell spoke to the CM over the phone and conveyed her country’s and her government’s profoundest sympathies and condolences to the tragedy-stricken families.