New Delhi: It was supposed to be a routine trip to Chandni Chowk for Noman. Little did he know that a day of work like any other would mark the end of his life. The 22-year-old from Shamli in Uttar Pradesh had gone to a wholesale market to buy supplies for his cosmetic shop when a powerful explosion, suspected to be a suicide attack, ripped through a white i20 car near the Red Fort metro station on November 10.
Thirteen people lost their lives, and more than 30 others were injured. His cousin Aman was among the survivors.
Struggling to find words, Noman’s uncle, Furqan, said, “The ones who died were hardworking people. We lost our son. The government should give such a response that they do not dare to do something like this.”
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Just a few metres away, outside the Lok Nayak Hospital, another family grieved their loss. Pankaj Saini, a 22-year-old cab driver from Bihar’s Samastipur, had just dropped off a passenger at Chandni Chowk when the explosion took his life instantly.
He was the sole earner for his family. Visibly in shock, his father said, “What do I say? Pankaj had just dropped off a passenger at Chandni Chowk when this happened. We demand justice from the government, and we hope justice will be served.”
Ashok Kumar, a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) conductor, was also killed in the blast. The only bread winner of his family of eight, he lived in Jagatpur with his wife and four children. He had gone to meet his relative, Lokesh Kumar Gupta, when the incident happened.
His cousin Pappu shared the moment he learned of Ashok’s death. “I read his name on the victim list and said, ‘He is my cousin.’ I called around to confirm. His bike is also missing,” he added.
He said that Ashok had worked nights as a security guard to support the family as his elder brother Subhash often fell ill.
Hailing from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, Lokesh Gupta was meant to meet Ashok at Chandni Chowk. A relative explained the sequence of events, “We left Sir Ganga Ram Hospital together. Lokesh boarded the metro to Chandni Chowk, where Ashok was to meet him.”
Amar Kataria, a 34-year-old medicine shop owner from New Delhi’s Sriniwaspuri, was returning home after closing his shop at Bhagirath Palace, barely 600 metres from the Red Fort. His father was seen howling outside the hospital, unable to comprehend that his son’s life had been abruptly taken.
Dinesh Kumar Mishra, a father of three from Uttar Pradesh’s Shravasti, worked at a shop selling invitation cards in Delhi while living with his three brothers and son. His wife, Reena, said in disbelief, “I have lost everything.”
His father, Bhure, recalled the moment he realised the blast had claimed Dinesh’s life. “I saw on the news that there had been a blast in Delhi. I called all my sons. Dinesh did not pick up the phone. I later came to know that he was killed,” he said.
The blast was so powerful that several bodies are yet to be identified. Outside the hospital, grief is omnipresent. Families cry, wail and try to make sense of lives violently cut short.
The streets of Delhi have returned to a semblance of normalcy, but for these families, which lost their loved ones, nothing will ever be the same.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
