The mortal remains of Brisbane bus driver who died in an alleged arson attack in Brisbane on Friday, will be flown from Brisbane this afternoon.
Manmeet Alisher’s mortal remains are expected to reach India on Thursday evening. His last rites will be performed at his ancestral village, Alisher in Sangrur district in Punjab on Friday.
Manmeet's elder brother and a family friend who arrived in Australia to take his body back will also be flying back by the same flight.
Manmeet’s body is kept at the funeral director’s office in Brisbane and will be flown to Melbourne later in the afternoon.
The body will be taken to India by Air India flight on Thursday morning.
Winnerjit Singh, a family friend who is accompanying Manmeet’s elder brother Amit Sharma, thanked the community for their support.
“We have received an overwhelming support from the community and the media here. We wholeheartedly thank everyone for showing their love for Manmeet,” he said.
A 48-year-old Brisbane man is accused of setting him afire using an “incendiary device”. Anthony O’Donohue was arrested at the crime scene and later charged with murder, arson and attempted murder.
Winnerjit says he is not sure it was a racist attack, but expects a fair and thorough investigation into the crime and bring the culprit to justice.
“Even if it was a racist attack, it’s just one person who did it. I hope the investigators will be able to get to the bottom of it and the truth will be told about this man’s real intentions,” he said.
On Tuesday, Greens politician Alex Bhattal slammed the Queensland Police for declaring the attack a random act before concluding the investigation.
“I wonder how they can make such a statement before it has been brought to a court of law and before they have heard from the murderer.”
“You know that if it would have been an Indian man who had thrown an incendiary device into the bus there would have been no statement about the fact that it was a random, a solitary attack.”
“We know that it would have been tagged into broader context of terrorism regardless of the facts,” said Ms. Bhattal.
