NEW DELHI: After travelling across three states and an international border, the body of Sudeep Neupane , 27, the only foreign national killed in the terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam, reached his home in Kalikanagar, a neighbourhood in Butwal, western Nepal, draped in the national flag.
He was cremated at Triveni Ghat around noon, with hundreds, including local govt officials, gathered for the last rites. Sudeep, his family said, was shot immediately after he identified himself as a Hindu and had no time to explain that he was not from India.
Butwal, a city in Lumbini province, sits just 25km north of the Indian border at Sunauli, close enough for shared economies and quiet daily crossings. It is not the kind of place where news arrives quickly, and yet by the time the ambulance reached Sudeep’s home, the neighbourhood had already gathered.
Sudeep had travelled to Kashmir with his mother Reema, sister Sushma, and brother-in-law Ujjwal Kafle on April 19. It was meant to be a brief trip, just long enough to give his divorced mother some respite. On the day of the shooting, the family was walking along the meadow when a group of men with guns approached. Witnesses later said the attackers asked about their religion. Sudeep was walking slightly ahead of the others. He answered that he was Hindu. Before he could say anything else, he was shot. “He didn’t get the chance to say he was a foreigner,” said Tejulal Neupane , his uncle, who has since called for compensation from the Indian govt. “He had nothing to do with anything.”
His death triggered a series of logistical efforts across two countries. His body was airlifted from Srinagar to New Delhi on Wednesday evening, then flown to Lucknow later that night. From there, it was driven overland to Sunauli before crossing into Nepal. A district magistrate from Uttar Pradesh accompanied the body as far as the border. At Sunauli, it was received by Dadhiram Neupane, Sudeep’s uncle and the ward chairperson of Butwal-14. A police escort led the final leg to Kalikanagar. Butwal mayor Khelraj Pandey, Rupandehi chief district officer Basudev Ghimire , and police chief Ranjit Singh Rathore joined the procession.
Sudeep lived in Kalikanagar for most of his life. After his parents, Dhruv Neupane and Reema Pandey, separated, he stayed behind to support his mother. His sister moved to Pokhara after marriage, but Sudeep remained, managing the household finances, arranging care, and eventually becoming its only earning member. He held a public health degree from Dharan and was pursuing further studies in Kathmandu while working part-time on an oral health campaign in rural Nepal.
The job did not pay much, but it was steady, and he had grown invested in the work. “He wasn’t just showing up,” said Amrit Bhusal, who runs Modern Samaj Dental, the clinic that had employed him for nearly a year. “He was doing follow-ups. He was tracking cases. He was committed in a way that was unusual.”
In Pyuthan, Bhairahawa, and along the outer districts of Rupandehi, his visits became routine. He carried a clipboard and often walked between health posts on foot. When he spoke about public health, his colleagues said, it was in practical terms — transport access, dental hygiene, vaccine follow-up — not in abstract declarations.
At home, he was quiet. Neighbours described him as careful and unobtrusive. Rajendra Kumar Acharya, who lives two houses down, remembered a brief conversation before the trip. “He told us he was going to Kashmir. He seemed happy to be taking a break. That’s all.” His 89-year-old grandfather, Khemananda Neupane, learned of the death indirectly. “My wife stopped my prayers,” he said. “She told me something had happened. I didn’t understand at first.”
His father, Dhruv Neupane, a teacher at Bhawanipur High School in Butwal-18, was returning from a teachers’ protest in Kathmandu when his phone began to ring. “No one would say it outright,” he said. “Only when I arrived home did I understand what they had been trying to tell me. It doesn’t matter where I live. He was my child.”
He was cremated at Triveni Ghat around noon, with hundreds, including local govt officials, gathered for the last rites. Sudeep, his family said, was shot immediately after he identified himself as a Hindu and had no time to explain that he was not from India.
Butwal, a city in Lumbini province, sits just 25km north of the Indian border at Sunauli, close enough for shared economies and quiet daily crossings. It is not the kind of place where news arrives quickly, and yet by the time the ambulance reached Sudeep’s home, the neighbourhood had already gathered.
Sudeep had travelled to Kashmir with his mother Reema, sister Sushma, and brother-in-law Ujjwal Kafle on April 19. It was meant to be a brief trip, just long enough to give his divorced mother some respite. On the day of the shooting, the family was walking along the meadow when a group of men with guns approached. Witnesses later said the attackers asked about their religion. Sudeep was walking slightly ahead of the others. He answered that he was Hindu. Before he could say anything else, he was shot. “He didn’t get the chance to say he was a foreigner,” said Tejulal Neupane , his uncle, who has since called for compensation from the Indian govt. “He had nothing to do with anything.”
His death triggered a series of logistical efforts across two countries. His body was airlifted from Srinagar to New Delhi on Wednesday evening, then flown to Lucknow later that night. From there, it was driven overland to Sunauli before crossing into Nepal. A district magistrate from Uttar Pradesh accompanied the body as far as the border. At Sunauli, it was received by Dadhiram Neupane, Sudeep’s uncle and the ward chairperson of Butwal-14. A police escort led the final leg to Kalikanagar. Butwal mayor Khelraj Pandey, Rupandehi chief district officer Basudev Ghimire , and police chief Ranjit Singh Rathore joined the procession.
Sudeep lived in Kalikanagar for most of his life. After his parents, Dhruv Neupane and Reema Pandey, separated, he stayed behind to support his mother. His sister moved to Pokhara after marriage, but Sudeep remained, managing the household finances, arranging care, and eventually becoming its only earning member. He held a public health degree from Dharan and was pursuing further studies in Kathmandu while working part-time on an oral health campaign in rural Nepal.
The job did not pay much, but it was steady, and he had grown invested in the work. “He wasn’t just showing up,” said Amrit Bhusal, who runs Modern Samaj Dental, the clinic that had employed him for nearly a year. “He was doing follow-ups. He was tracking cases. He was committed in a way that was unusual.”
In Pyuthan, Bhairahawa, and along the outer districts of Rupandehi, his visits became routine. He carried a clipboard and often walked between health posts on foot. When he spoke about public health, his colleagues said, it was in practical terms — transport access, dental hygiene, vaccine follow-up — not in abstract declarations.
At home, he was quiet. Neighbours described him as careful and unobtrusive. Rajendra Kumar Acharya, who lives two houses down, remembered a brief conversation before the trip. “He told us he was going to Kashmir. He seemed happy to be taking a break. That’s all.” His 89-year-old grandfather, Khemananda Neupane, learned of the death indirectly. “My wife stopped my prayers,” he said. “She told me something had happened. I didn’t understand at first.”
His father, Dhruv Neupane, a teacher at Bhawanipur High School in Butwal-18, was returning from a teachers’ protest in Kathmandu when his phone began to ring. “No one would say it outright,” he said. “Only when I arrived home did I understand what they had been trying to tell me. It doesn’t matter where I live. He was my child.”
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