It is never easy to come to grips with a son’s arrest. It is particularly difficult when he is arrested on charges of terrorism, for carrying out an attack that killed two people and injured nine.
It is never easy to come to grips with a son’s arrest. It is particularly difficult when he is arrested on charges of terrorism, for carrying out an attack that killed two people and injured nine.
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Devendra Gupta’s parents Pushpa Devi and Satya Prakash are in a state of shock ever since their son was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the 2007 Ajmer Dargah Sharif blast.
The desolate parents did not eat for five days, locking themselves up in their modest house here.
On Sunday, Devi stepped out to open her grocery shop in Bihar Ganj area. The tiny shop is their only source of livelihood. Her eldest son lives in Indore.
When Hindustan Times spotted her, she was reluctant to speak. But within a few minutes she opened up.
“Devendra (Gupta) left home nearly 12 years ago when he was just 20 years old. He wanted to serve the country. He never returned after that,” she said, fighting back her tears.
Devi, who was recently operated for cancer, says she is tired of shooing away media persons who have been flocking their house.
“For the last five days, we have not been able to eat or sleep. I didn’t even feel like stepping out of the house to meet anyone. I came out today (Sunday) as it was suffocating inside,” she said.
“No one in the area has tried to find out how we are coping with this. It seems like no body wants to talk to us now.”
Devi is hoping her other son does not get embroiled in the mess.
“My eldest son lives in Indore with his family. But he has decided not to come to Ajmer as he fears he could get into trouble because of his brother (Devendra),” she said.
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