39 year old chef from Karwar killed by Kabul militants

HUBBALLI: Patson Rodrigues, 39, hailing from Kadwad village in Karwar taluk, who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen along with two others on the eastern outskirts of Kabul on Thursday, was the sole bread-winner in his family.   Patson, employed as a chef at Sodexo in Kabul, was abducted along with his Malaysian and Macedonian colleagues, and killed by gunmen and their bodies dumped in a car on Thursday. They were identified on Friday. Uttara Kannada deputy commissioner S S Nakul said the administration is yet to receive an official communication from the ministry of external affairs on when his body will be brought home. 

Patson had visited his hamlet on May 15 and returned to Kabul only on June 22 after celebrating his sixth wedding anniversary in Goa. He is survived by his wife Frilla Rodrigues and their five year old daughter Presli. His kin said he used to call them every day before leaving for work and after finishing his duty. He spoke to his wife a few hours before falling to bullets of terrorists on Thursday.     

The Indian national who was abducted and killed by a militants group in Kabul has been identified as Patson Rodrigues who hailed from Kadwad village in Karwar taluk.  The thirty-nine year old Kannadiga had been working as chef at an international food company, Sodexo in the capital city of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Uttar Kannada deputy commissioner S S Nakul said that the administration is yet to receive an official communication from the ministry of external affairs. 

A sixty-four year old Malaysian and thirty-seven year old Macedonian were the other two people who were shot dead along with him by the militants. They were travelling to attend their duty in the car when they were abducted by the terrorists in the eastern outskirts of Kabul.  The incident took place on Thursday morning. Though their bodies were found in the car parked in the Mussahi district in the southern part of Kabul province, they were identified on Friday. 

Patson had visited his native hamlet on May 15 and returned to Kabul on June 22 after celebrating his sixth marriage anniversary in Goa. He is survived by his wife Frilla Rodrigues and five year old daughter Presli who is in LKG. The family is in a state of shock after hearing the news of his death. Family members said that he used to call them every day before leaving for his work and after finishing the duty. 

He had also spoken to his wife a few hours before attending to his work. The family members were waiting for his call Thursday night.  He was the lone earner of the family and left Karwar nearly ten years ago to get employed in Sodexo as chef after studying a hotel management course. Sodexo is a French food services and facilities management company. 

The company has communicated the news of his abduction to the family.  The brother of the deceased has been living in adjacent Honnavar taluk. "His wife and mother do not know about his death. We have informed them only about his abduction fearing the shock to them", a relative of the family Alexa DeSilva said.