- A 57-year-old tailor has died in the blast at Nowgam police station near Srinagar
- The blast had occurred during sample extraction from seized explosives by the police
- The police had taken away the tailor in the morning and tasked him with stitching bags for explosives
A 57-year-old tailor was among the nine people who died in an accidental blast at a police station in Nowgam on the outskirts of Srinagar. The blast took place when the police and forensic team were extracting samples from a large cache of explosives seized recently from Haryana's Faridabad.
The relatives of Mohammad Shafi Pare said the police had taken him to the police station to stitch bags for individual packets of explosives. "The police took him away yesterday morning. He came to pray once in between," said his cousin Mohammad Shafi Sheikh.
When he returned home for dinner around 9 pm, his daughter had pleaded with him to stay back, citing the cold. "Papa, don't go," she said. But he said he had to return to the police station to finish the job. "I'll finish work and come back," were his final words.
The family did not know they would never see him again.
"Then we heard a blast at night. We rushed to the police station. The entire police station had turned into a heap of rubble, bodies were torn to shreds," said Sheikh.
They spent hours searching for him and finally, found his body in a corner of the hospital.
The family shielded his wife and daughter from the news, unable to bear the thought of breaking their hearts.
Pare has three children and was the only breadwinner of the family. Had Pare been a member of the police force, his family would not have to worry about their income now, pointed out another relative, Tariq Ahmad Shah.
"I have a question," said Shah. "When there are plumbers and other service class people in the police, why not a tailor? He went to help the police. What help can we expect from the government?" he said.
Consumed by grief and anger, the family is also demanding that the police station be relocated from the residential area, contending that no one else should suffer their fate.
They are also outraged about doctors being involved in the explosives plot, believing that the arrests made so far are just the tip of the iceberg.
"There are bigger fish involved," they said, demanding justice. "Until those responsible are brought to justice, things will never change," they said.
The Jammu and Kashmir government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said it would provide Rs 10 lakh to the families of each person who died and Rs 1 lakh each for those severely injured in the Nowgam blast.
The blast at the police station took place late on Friday evening. The police said it happened despite the utmost caution they exercised while handling the highly unstable explosives.
The blast left a trail of destruction. Multiple vehicles caught fire and buildings nearby sustained damage. Body parts were seen strewn among debris. Some reportedly landed around houses 300 metres away.
