Shivamogga, Mar 5 : After visiting the house of Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said it may be possible to bring back his body from war-torn Ukraine following a ceasefire announcement by Russia. “I have been regularly talking to the officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and Ukrainian ambassador. I have been informed that Naveen’s body has been embalmed and kept in a mortuary. Until now it was difficult to shift his body amidst war. Now, I have been told that Russia has announced a ceasefire. So, it may be possible to get back his body,” he told reporters here. Naveen, a MBBS student, was killed in Kharkiv shelling on March 1. He was the first Indian casualty of the war between Russia and Ukraine. CM visited Naveen’s house and spent time with his family members and consoled them, before handing over Rs 25-lakh cheque to his father Shekharappa Gyanagoudar. The grieving family have been demanding early shifting of Naveen’s body to Chalageri village in Haveri district to conduct last rites. Bommai said the government is also making sincere efforts to evacuate other students stranded in a place nearby Kharkiv for the last three days. “Arrangements are being made to evacuate them,” he said. “Some others are stranded in the bunkers in Kharkiv. Efforts also are being made to shift them in the wake of the ceasefire in next two days,” he said. From Haveri district, Bommai said, 10 students were stranded in Ukraine, out of which five have already returned. The government is planning to give a suitable job to Naveen’s elder brother who is pursuing PhD, Bommai said. The state and central government also is thinking about improving the medical education system to avoid Indian students going abroad for higher studies, he said. The central and state governments are finding ways to provide financial assistance for students pursuing medicine and thinking about reforming the selection process,” Bommai said. This comment comes in the wake of Naveen’s father levelling allegations that he was asked to shell out Rs 1 to 2 crore to get an admission in medical colleges. BDN SHK2212