7 years later, missing victims of City blast declared dead

The memories of the blasts that took place seven years ago in the national capital still haunt the near and dear ones of the victims. On its seventh anniversary, police officially declared the seven victims, whose bodies were untraced, as dead.

The most devastating explosion took place in Sarojini Nagar market. Eyewitnesses said the bomb was placed in a white colour Maruti van and it went off near a vendor, who was using a gas cylinder, triggering multiple explosions. It also caused an outbreak of fire in a row of shops. There were seven bodies that had remained unidentified till date.

Ashok Randhawa, president of South Asian Forum For People Against Terror, said S Ganeshan of Kidwai Nagar, Ram Jeevan, who had worked at Shyam juice corner at the market, John Michael, eight-year-old Sain Mukherjee from Kolkata, Pramod (19) of Jawahar Nagar and two brothers Ram Chander and Vinod of Muzaffarpur in Bihar were killed in the blast. But their bodies were neither found nor identified in the dead.

Saraswati, sister of S Ganeshan told Deccan Herald that she still waits for her brother as police claimed that his brother did not die in the explosion. “On that fateful day, my brother went to Sarojini Nagar market for some work but never returned. Two days after the blast his motorbike was found in a parking lot at the market,” she said. “He was not identified among the dead.”

Salina Das lost her son John Michel, her daughter in law Sunita, and grandson Alvin in the blast. Alvin died on the spot and Sunita succumbed to her injuries at a hospital. But his son John Michel still remains untraced. She keeps knocking the doors of authorities to establish the identity of her son. She believes that her son was killed in the blast.