Within hours of the incident, the police arrested the accused, a class 9th student. (File)
Mohammad Sharik and Mohammad Riyaz, the two people killed in Thursday's grenade attack at a bus stand in Jammu, had one thing in common -- both were living away from their homes in a different city to earn a living.
Mr Sharik, 17, a resident of Haridwar in Uttarakhand, was on his way to Kashmir where he was working as a tailor for several years after the death of his father.
Mr Riyaz, 32, was returning home in south Kashmir, after five months, from Rajasthan where he was working as a shawl seller.
The two were among 33 people injured in the grenade attack at a crowded bus stand on Thursday morning.
While Mr Sharik died of splinter injuries within hours of the incident at the Government Medical College Hospital, Mr Riyaz died in the wee hours today.
"We reached Jammu around 2:30 am on Thursday from Rajasthan and stayed at a rented room to wait for the resumption of traffic from Jammu to Srinagar. Riyaz along with my father (Nissar Ahmad Bhat) left to buy medicine as he was not feeling well and were caught in the explosion," Basit Nissar, Mr Riyaz's cousin, said.
The traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway plies alternatively due to the ongoing work on the four-lane project.
Mr Basit said he was also accompanying them when they went out but was asked by his father to get some change from the room.
"When I returned, a deafening sound rattled the bus stand. People who were present there initially thought it to be a tyre burst. When I reached the scene, both my father and Riyaz were lying in a pool of blood with multiple injuries," he said, adding that his father is admitted at the hospital.
He said his cousin brother, who was yet to be married, used to work as a labourer during summers in Kashmir to help his extended family, comprising grandparents, parents, an uncle and an elder brother.
"We left for Rajasthan in November to sell shawls as was the practice for the past many years," Mr Basit said, adding that the blast has left the family shattered.
Within hours of the incident, the police arrested the accused, a class 9th student. Police say he was indoctrinated by the Hizbul Mujahideen and tasked to carry out the strike.
Mr Sharik, on the other hand, was the lone bread-earner for his mother, three sisters and a younger brother after the death of his father a few years back.
"His father died a few years back and being the eldest in the family the responsibility fell on his shoulders but the cruel hands of death snatched a hope for the poor family," Mr Sharik's maternal uncle said.
"We reached Jammu on Wednesday night and were staying at the bus stand to leave for Kashmir, where we used to work during summer to earn our living. Sharik was working as a tailor in Khannabal area of Anantnag district," he said.
Among the injured undergoing treatment at the GMC Hospital is seven-year-old Danish Nazir, a resident of Bandipora district of north Kashmir.