BHUBANESWAR: In the dead of night at the city airport’s International Cargo Terminal, time seemed to stand still. The air was thick with grief as dozens gathered to receive the body of Prasant Kumar Satpathy, an innocent victim of a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. The terminal’s fluorescent lights cast long shadows across faces frozen in silent mourning.
At precisely 12:38am, Prasant’s wife Priyadarshini, their nine-year-old son, and relatives emerged from the flight that brought them home. Three minutes later, the cargo door opened to reveal Prasant’s white cloth-draped coffin. The sight proved too much for Priyadarshini, who witnessed her husband’s brutal killing in Pahalgam.

“Everything is lost. They killed my husband in front of me,” she cried out before collapsing into the arms of a female police officer. The sound of her grief echoed through the terminal, breaking the respectful silence. Their young son stood motionless, still processing the trauma of watching his father die, his small face a mask of confusion and shock.
As relatives rushed to revive Priyadarshini with water, a solemn procession of dignitaries approached the pedestal where Prasant’s body lay. Deputy chief minister KV Singh Deo led the tributes, followed by a stream of ministers, political leaders, and officials. Each placed flowers and bowed their heads, honouring a life cut tragically short.
“With a heavy heart, I prayed for his soul’s eternal peace and extended my deepest condolences to his grieving family. May Prabhu Jagannath grant them strength during this time of immense sorrow,” said Singh Deo.
Revenue minister Suresh Pujari, Congress state President Bhakta Charan Das, BJP state President Manmohan Samal, minister of industries Sampad Chandra Swain, Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das, DGP YB Khurania, chief minister’s advisor Prakash Mishra, MLAs, politicians, bureaucrats, and intellectuals paid their last respects to Prasant.
Among the mourners were Prasant’s colleagues from CIPET, their presence a testament to the impact he made in life. They stood shoulder to shoulder with politicians and bureaucrats, united in grief for their fallen friend and co-worker.
At 1am, an ambulance bearing Prasant’s body began its final journey to his native village of Isani in Balasore district. As the vehicle disappeared into the night, tears flowed freely among those left behind. “The terminal that witnessed countless joyful reunions now bore witness to one of its saddest homecomings,” said an airport official present there.
The night’s events spoke volumes about the human cost of terrorism – a wife widowed, a child left fatherless, and a community robbed of one of its own.
As dawn approached, Bhubaneswar’s citizens returned to their homes, carrying with them the weight of a tragedy that struck too close to home, reminding them of the fragility of peace and the price of service to the nation.