Kanpur (UP), Apr 24 (PTI) Shubham Dwivedi, a 31-year-old businessman from Kanpur who was killed in the Pahalgam terror attack, was cremated at his native village with full state honours on Thursday morning, officials said.

The cremation was attended by Uttar Pradesh Cabinet ministers Yogendra Upadhyay and Rakesh Sachan, who placed wreaths on Dwivedi’s mortal remains and offered their condolences to the bereaved family.

A guard of honour was also presented to the departed soul, officials said.

Shubham, who got married to Ashanya on February 12, was among the 26 persons, mostly tourists, who were killed on Tuesday at Baisaran meadow near Pahalgam in Anantnag district in one of the most gruesome attacks targeting civilians in Kashmir in a long time.

Shubham’s mortal remains were brought to the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow from Srinagar around midnight on Wednesday.

A green corridor was established to transport his remains by an ambulance to his native village Hathipur in Kanpur district.

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak paid his last respects to Dwivedi at the Lucknow airport, officials said.

Shubham, the only son in the family, was on a week-long trip to Kashmir with his wife Ashanya, parents, in-laws, sister, brother-in-law, and her sister’s in-laws when terrorists shot him from point-blank range in front of his wife.

Recounting the horrific incident, Ashanya told mediapersons how the terrorists specifically targeted Hindus.

“The terrorists asked people if they were Muslims, and if so, to recite ‘kalma’ (Islamic declaration of faith). Before I could sense what exactly was happening, they shot Shubham in front of me as soon as he said he was a Hindu,” she said.

Thousands of mourners, including the two Cabinet ministers, state Congress president Ajay Rai and numerous senior officials, attended his last rites on Thursday. PTI COR CDN ARI