Slain academic's family all set for US trip for funeral

Chennai, Apr 18 (UNI) After obtaining passports in a record one hour's time and emergency visas, the grief-stricken family members of Prof G V Loganathan who was killed in a shootout at Virginia Tech, are all set to leave for the US early tomorrow to attend his funeral.

The brilliant academic will be buried on the campus of his favourite institution where he had been teaching for the last 15 years in accordance with his wishes.

The Tamil Nadu Government had agreed to bear the entire expenditure for the travel.

His parents G K Vasudevan and V Kannammal, brothers Senguttuvelan and Palanivel and sisters-in-law Senthamizh Selvi and Nirmala, cousin P Kumaresan, his wife Deepa and Prof Loganathan's father-in-law V Ramakrishnan would board the Lufthansa Airlines flight at 0150 hrs early tomorrow.

Soon after the family members arrived here from the professor's native place of Karandattipalayam in Erode District this morning, four of them, including his parents were issued passports in a record time.

Regional Passport Officer Sumathi Ravichandran said after completing the formalities, the passports were issued following instructions from the Chief Minister's Secretariat and the External Affairs Ministry, Though they had applied for passports under Tatkal, as a special the Tatkal fee of Rs 3,500 was waived and passports issued in one hour, a record of sorts for the Chennai Passport office.

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