KINS Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 15 (KINS): On Friday morning, police took tailor Mohammad Shafi Parray of Wanabal to Nowgam Police Station for packing work linked to explosive materials recovered from Faridabad, Haryana.
He returned home around 1 pm for prayers and lunch, then went back to continue helping. In the evening, he again came home for dinner and night prayers, reassuring his family he would return soon, before leaving one last time for the station.
“He kept telling the family it was just temporary work and he would soon be back,” one of his relatives told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).
Nine people — including State Investigation Agency (SIA) Inspector Israr Ahmad Shah, five police personnel from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and Crime Branch, two revenue officials, and the local tailor who had gone to help — were killed when explosives stored at the station went off late Friday night.
The blast also left 32 others injured, among them 27 police personnel, two revenue officials and three civilians from neighbouring areas.
Initially, the family was informed that Parray was among the injured. But in the early hours of Saturday, police told them he had succumbed to his injuries and asked them to come and identify the body.
As the news was confirmed, relatives and locals thronged the family’s modest two-storey home in Wanabal.
“When we heard about Parray, we rushed to the spot,” recalled resident Fayaz Ahmad.
Around 2 pm, his body was brought home. A pall of gloom descended on the locality. Everyone wept inconsolably as women beat their chests in grief.
Parray was the lone breadwinner for his family — a wife, daughter and two sons — who depended entirely on his modest tailoring shop at Wanabal Chowk.
Residents of Wanabal said the blast shook the area just before midnight. “We first thought it was an air blast,” a local said. “Some window panes of our house were shattered even though we live around 1,000–1,200 metres away.” (KINS)
