Lt Gov's office reaches out to stranded students from Maharashtra

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu's office on Saturday reached out to three Pune-based students, who came to the union territory on a research project and are stuck in Bhaderwah township of Doda district for the past one month due to the nationwide lockdown, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said.

Nachiket Guttekar, Shamim Kulkarni and Ninad Dattar were about to leave Bhaderwah valley after completing their shoot for a documentary film when the lockdown left them with no choice but to stay back. They ended up as guests in the house of local school teacher, Nazim Malik, at Gatha village.

"A representative of theLieutenant Governorcontacted the students and enquired about their well being. The Lt Governor's office also thanked Malik for taking care of the students from Maharashtra," the spokesperson said.

The trio had reached Bhadarwah on March 15 for shooting of a documentary and was scheduled to board a flight back home from Jammu on March 25. However, when the situation left them stranded, the school teacher's family came forward to help them.

"The situation was scary when the government announced the lockdown. We were in panic because the surface and air traffic was suspended and all hotels were closed. But we were fortunate enough that this family graciously came forward and offered us to stay with them," Guttekar had told PTI on April 18.

Expressing his gratitude to the family, he said, "I think this is the real Kashmiriyat.