Florida-based techie fails to prove he’s Muslim, gunned down in front of family

KOLKATA: He was held at gunpoint and asked whether he was a Hindu or a Muslim. He stayed mum. They then asked him to recite Kalma. He couldn't and admitted he was a Hindu. Before he could finish the sentence, they shot him dead.

Sohini Adhikary (37), the widow of Florida-based techie Bitan Adhikary, couldn't hold back her tears while recounting the horrific experience of the terror strike in which she lost her husband. Never did she imagine that the vacation to the picturesque valley would change her life forever.

Bitan (40), a software engineer at Brandon in Florida, was among the three victims of the terrorist attack in the Baisaran valley of Pahalgam, Kashmir — a popular tourist spot often called ‘Mini Switzerland' — on Tuesday afternoon.

Sohini, a homemaker, said it was a surprise trip that Bitan had planned meticulously during his annual vacation in Kolkata. "Baisaran was among our top priorities. We went there and sat in the meadow playing with our son Hridaan and taking selfies. Suddenly, we heard gunshots. By instinct, we stood and started running towards the green cover. That is when two men – in pathani suits and holding rifles – stopped us and asked my husband whether he was a Hindu or Muslim," recalled Sohini during a telephonic conversation with TOI.

Sohini said Bitan didn't respond initially but then one of the gunmen stuck the gun's nozzle on his chest and asked him to read Kalma — the six Islamic phrases of faith that are fundamental prayers that Muslims often recite, particularly in religious teachings and daily practice.

"My husband didn't know Kalma and admitted he was a Hindu. That is when the man shot him. He fell on the grass. I just sat there next to him clutching my son, watching him die in front of my eyes as the men walked away and stopped another couple," said Sohini in a disturbingly calm voice.

Bitan, who works in an Indian multinational IT company, had moved to the US in 2019 for an on-site job. He had returned to Kolkata on April 8 to celebrate Bengali New Year with his family and then left the city for the Kashmir trip on April 16 with his wife and son for an eight-day vacation. They were supposed to take a flight back to Kolkata from Srinagar on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the post-mortem was conducted at Srinagar General Hospital before Sohini and her son took an 11.30am flight to Delhi with Bitan's body, where her brother and other family members were waiting for her. They took a 5.30pm Air India flight from Delhi to reach Kolkata around 7.30pm.

At their Sakherbazar Vaishali Park residence — and later at their relative's residence at Maitri Sangha Club in Sakherbazar, where they were relocated at 1.30 am on Wednesday by worried relatives — both parents of Bitan could hardly hold back their emotions. Both Bireshwar Adhikary (87) and his wife Maya (75) underwent cataract operation recently, with Bitan arranging everything. Maya also has a pacemaker.

"From asking us about our health update each day to arranging ration at our Behala home, he had a knack for multitasking online," recalled Bireshwar, wondering who will now look after Hridaan now. "What will I answer Hridaan?" he kept saying.

Bursting into tears, Maya added: "My husband switched on the TV and tuned in to the news channel in between an IPL break, and then I heard him scream…see what befell Bitan, he kept shouting. That was how we came to know of the incident. He was in the US and before that, he was in Venezuela…but now, he is in a land he will never return from."

Even on Tuesday afternoon, Sohini called home to describe the beautiful sights they were seeing. "Even before they left Kolkata, they said they would visit Pahalgam. He wanted to take us all on a trip. I told him, ‘Go with your wife'. We talked on the phone everyday. Even on Tuesday, we spoke several times. We talked in the afternoon... and then everything changed," said Bireswar.

The extended family came forward to support the elderly couple the moment they heard the news. "It was a traumatic night for them. We are hoping that the state and the Centre will step in to take care of the child and the parents," said Shankar Chakraborty, one of the maternal uncles of Bitan.

Shankar added that CM Mamata Banerjee had already spoken twice to them, including with Sohini. "Mayor Firhad Hakim has visited us, police are helping us. I have asked a few members to go to the airport since each time we connect with Sohini, she is saying that ‘everything is over'," said Chakraborty. Bitan's death cast a pall of gloom among his friends in Durgapur where he had spent his childhood.