Karnataka BJP MLA Arvind Bellad stirred a controversy on Thursday by stating that more students could be brought back in the place of a dead body, while answering a question on the plight of students from the state and bringing back the body of medical student Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, who was killed in Ukraine in Russian shelling.

"More space is needed to bring a dead body in the flight. In the place required for a dead body, eight persons could be accommodated and brought back," Bellad stated.