Florida friends start crowdfunding campaign for kin of slain Kol engineer

Kolkata: Friends and colleagues of Bitan Adhikary, the software engineer from Florida in the USA who was killed in a terror attack at Pahalgam on Tuesday, have launched a crowdfunding campaign from Florida to support his grieving family — his ageing parents, his wife Soheni, and three-and-a-half-year-old son Hridaan.The fundraiser, on the platform GoFundMe under the title "In Loving Memory of Bitan Adhikary – Support for his Family", aims to raise $300,000 (Rs 2.6 crore), of which $131,175 (Rs 1.1 crore) was raised by Friday night."He is one of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, India. He was visiting India on a vacation and decided to take his family on a tour to Kashmir, and unfortunately, he lost his life in the hands of cruelty. For us, he is a martyr and an unfortunate casualty of this inhumane activity," Bibhas Bera, a friend who started the campaign, wrote on the crowdfunding page. It mentioned that after his sudden death, the family is "now facing financial burdens of ongoing mortgage, auto loan, supporting his family and son's future, and other unexpected costs."The page also mentions Adhikary, known for his cheerful nature, kindness, and generosity, as the "sole bread-earner" for his family.The post mentions that every donation will go directly to the family and will be deeply appreciated, but also adds that Soheni is yet to be added as a beneficiary. "Soheni is still not added as a beneficiary because right now, she is busy with press, govt bodies, and preparing rituals for Bitan's last rites. But we understand people's concerns over the authenticity of this fundraiser, so feel free to wait until she is officially added as a beneficiary. We are only trying to help her," the page reads while adding that the fundraiser was started after talking to her.TOI tried to speak to Soheni on the issue but she refused to comment. Family members said she was too traumatised on Friday after the shraddh rituals.The website mentions that to withdraw the money, Soheni will have to accept the invitation to be added as a beneficiary, and then she can add her bank details and complete the claims process.