Srinagar: Mohammad Shafi Parray, a tailor, left home on Friday morning to do his bit as a conscientious citizen by assisting police investigators to collect samples of the explosives seized from a ‘white collar’ terror module busted recently.
It would be the last time he would do so.
Parray (47), a dutiful family man and a devoted community volunteer, was among the nine people killed in an accidental blast inside the Nowgam police station on Friday night.
Parray joined the investigators on Friday morning, and remained at the police station for most part of the day, returning home just twice — for Friday prayers and to have dinner.
After dinner, the tailor master put on his warm clothes and left home to help the investigators collect the remaining samples from the explosives seized from Faridabad, Haryana.
Little did his wife, daughter and two sons know that they were seeing the lone breadwinner in the family for the last time, as grief gripped the area after the horrific blast.
His neighbours said when the family inquired about his whereabouts immediately after the blast, police told them the tailor master had sustained injuries in the explosion.
However, early Saturday, police told the family that Parray had succumbed to his injuries, and asked them to identify the body.
As the news about Parray’s death spread, relatives and locals flocked to their two-storey house, from where wails could be heard from a distance.
Women tried to console Parray’s family, including his sisters, but to no avail. They tried to wipe off their tears, but the eyes swelled up again.
Parray’s demise has left not just the family, but the entire neighbourhood in deep shock.
“He was my sister’s brother-in-law, and a man of character. He was also the president of the local mosque,” an elderly relative said.
The tailor master was taken by police at 10 am on Friday for some packing work at the police station, he said.
“He came home for prayers at 1 pm, had lunch, and then went back to the police station. He returned home in the evening, had dinner and then went back again,” the elderly man said.
The locals said Parray was the lone bread-earner for the family, which sustained on whatever he earned at his shop located at the nearby Wanabal Chowk.
Jawhar Ahmad Wani, who lives nearby, said the neighbourhood was awakened by the sound of the blast on Friday night.
“We first thought it was an air blast. Some window panes of our house were also shattered, even though we live around 1 km away (from the blast site). We rushed outside to check and came to know about the blast in the police station,” Wani said.
He said Parray had gone to the local mosque for Friday prayers, and even collected donations for the structure.
After the blast, the locals rushed to the scene and helped police pick up the dead and the injured.
“We found body parts scattered around. I picked up someone’s arm,” Wani said.
Another local, Tariq Ahmad, said, “When we heard about Parray, we rushed to the scene. He (the body) did not have any legs. We also identified him.”
As Parray’s relatives and locals submit to fate, they only have one appeal — the government should support the family, and give a job to a family member.
“We request the government, especially the lieutenant governor, to do something for the family so that it can sustain itself. The government should provide a job to his son,” Wani said.
