E-Paper
Delhi blast: How tattoos, T-shirts helped families of victims confirm their worst fear
Families clung to hope through torn sleeves, T-shirts, and tattoos as familiar traces confirmed their worst fears after the explosion killed ten in Delhi.
The chaos and panic that spread after the Red Fort blast in Delhi on Monday, which killed ten people and injured several others, made it difficult for families to find and identify their loved ones. In those moments, small details such as tattoos and T-shirts helped grieving families recognise those they had lost.
The explosion in the Hyundai i20 car was so powerful that it shattered the windows of vehicles parked metres away and was heard across nearby buildings. Families clung to hope through torn sleeves, T-shirts, and tattoos as familiar traces confirmed their worst fears.
ALSO READ | Delhi 10/11 blast: How cops zeroed down on Pulwama doctor Umar Un Nabi, Faridabad link
Amar Kataria
One such case involved a 34-year-old victim identified as Amar Kataria, a pharmaceutical businessman from Chandni Chowk. After the explosion, his body was charred beyond recognition. However, his family learnt of his death immediately after seeing the tattoos inked on his arms, dedicated to his parents.
“Mom my first love” and “Dad my strength”, inked on his arms, helped Kataria’s family identify him at the mortuary on Monday night, as mentioned in an earlier Hindustan Times report. He is survived by his wife and a three-year-old child.
Kataria’s father told ANI, “He had a shop in Bhagirath Palace and had left at around 6:45 pm. We got the information when we called his phone number, and it was answered by a woman who told us about the blast... We identified him after an inquiry; he had a tattoo on his hand, a chain with a ring, and an earring.”
Jumman
After his body was found under a sheet at a mortuary, Jumman’s desperate family, who had been searching for him for 20 hours, recognised him through his T-shirt. “His legs were missing, and his body badly damaged. We identified him through his T-shirt,” his uncle Mohammad Idris told Hindustan Times.
Jumman, who lived in Shastri Park and was the sole breadwinner of his family, is survived by his disabled wife and children.
Delhi Red Fort blast
The explosion took place on Monday evening near the Subhash Marg traffic signal close to the Red Fort, when a slow-moving Hyundai i20 car blew up, damaging several nearby vehicles.
Union home minister Amit Shah said that “all possibilities” were being looked into, as multiple agencies joined the investigation to find the cause and motive of the blast.
Delhi Police have filed a case under sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Explosives Act, and other relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Kotwali Police Station.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed that those behind the Delhi explosion would not be spared and that everyone involved would be brought to justice.
