Calcutta: Known as a brilliant student in his hometown Jhalda in Purulia, Manish Ranjan Mishra was a bookworm, cricketer and quiz buff during his school and college days and had left two well-paying jobs before joining the Union home ministry’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) in 2012.

Manish, 42, was one of the 26 persons killed in Tuesday's militant attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir.

"His ultimate goal was to serve the nation, and that is why he left two good jobs in a bank and Customs and finally joined the IB. He used to tell us about his thrilling journey as an IB officer during his visits to Jhalda," said businessman Manoj Kumar Rungta, a classmate and close friend of Manish.

After completing his education at Ranchi's Gossner College, Manish became an assistant manager at a nationalised bank in Ranchi in 2008. Within two years, he joined the Customs department and was posted in Chennai, where he spent two years before joining the IB in 2012.

"He attempted the UPSC exam multiple times, but finally secured the IB position through the Staff Selection Commission," added his friend.

The Mishra family, originally from the Rohtas district of Bihar, is settled in Jhalda where Manish’s father, Mangalesh Mishra, was a popular teacher at the Hindi High School. Manish also studied there.

As soon as the news of his death reached Jhalda early on Wednesday morning, the modest one-storey Mishra home was flooded with people of all ages.

"We all saw him grow from a child into an IB officer. We can’t accept that a terrorist attack took the life of a young man who was the pride of our town. We want the Union government to ensure harsh punishment for the terrorists," said Aditya Sharma, a neighbour.

"Manish was a brilliant student. But he also loved to read and was a fabulous quizzer. With Manish on a quiz team, victory was certain," said friend Shyam Chandra. "He was a good cricketer and represented teams outside Jhalda."

After joining the IB, Manish was first posted in Ranchi, then transferred to Delhi and finally Hyderabad.

He also loved to travel with his family. Last week, he had taken leave under the LTC scheme to go to Kashmir with his wife Joya, 10-year-old son and six-year-old daughter.

His parents and younger brother Vinit Ranjan were supposed to join them in Jammu on Wednesday and visit the Vaishno Devi temple.

"This plan remained unfulfilled as terrorists killed my friend," said Rungta, who is now caring for Manish's grieving parents.

Relatives said the parents received the news of Manish's death while en route to Ranchi by car to catch their train to Jammu.

Joya informed them using someone else’s phone.

"They immediately returned to Jhalda. Manish's father, a cardiac patient, was immediately taken to bed, and his mother Asha is numb is grief. It was a heartbreaking moment not just for the family but for the entire town of Jhalda," said a relative, adding that many relatives, including several from Bihar, have already reached Jhalda to support the grieving family.

Hundreds of people, including district officials and political leaders such as BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar and local TMC MLA from Baghmundi Sushanta Mahato, visited the Mishra house to offer condolences.

But there is no one to answer his mother Asha’s haunting question: “What was my son’s fault that he had to die?”

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, while strongly condemning the terror attack, said that the deceased persons of Bengal were being brought to the state on Wednesday evening by cargo plane.

However, the body of the deceased from Purulia would reach via Ranchi, she said, referring to Manish. His body will come by car to Purulia, she said.

Manish's family is expecting the body would reach on Thursday.

"Of course, I totally condemn this attack. Heinous.... We will look at the details later.... Terrorism has no religion and cannot be forgiven. I don't understand why it took so much time (for India to respond to the attack). The army was present in large numbers. Anyway, I won't get into this matter now. We want strong action against the culprits. In the cabinet meeting, we condemned the attack and passed a resolution," Mamata said.

She said she came to know that 26 people are stranded there due to landslide but they were alright. "We are in touch.... We are monitoring," she said.