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As life crawls back on track, families continue search for missing members

New Delhi: People have started filling the empty streets as life in north-east Delhi crawls back to normalcy slowly.

"We are poor people, all we know is we have to feed our families," said Arif who works in a mechanic shop at Kabir Nagar in Babarpur. On the other side, Maujpur and Jafrabad stretches are once more vibrant with human voices. People whose shops were not attacked have resumed their businesses. Although the paramilitary stands alert in different corners, people welcome the normalcy, after what seemed like a dark spell.

However, amidst this, many families are still trying to find their loved ones who have been missing since the violence erupted in their areas. Veer Sahai lives in Bridgepuri and has been missing from his house since February 23. "Neither I nor my wife was at home, which is why he left the house without informing us," said his father, who was standing outside Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital's mortuary. Narrating his ordeal, he added that Veer's younger brother had seen him playing outside the house last at 5 pm.

"He had no phone, but I am being told he went to Chand Bagh," he added. The 15-year-old boy is still missing. The family has filed a complaint and an FIR has also been registered.

One of Veer's relatives said the family was stuck inside their homes and had only left the house on February 27. "We have been trying to find him ever since," his father said.

Meanwhile, Farha had come to the hospital with her children on Friday. She has been searching for her husband Dilshad who went missing since the violence happened.

"He told me that he was going for work and never returned. I am searching for him ever since," she said. Her husband had gone to Chand Bagh for work and never came back.

Maushir, who lives in Chand Bagh, went for some work but never returned. "On February 25, he had gone to Khajuri in his car. We have found his burnt car and battery, which he had kept in his vehicle but Maushir is missing," a relative said. However, a burnt body was also found near the car and they have asked the authority to identify the body.

Meanwhile, Faizal is still looking for his brother who has been living in Shiv Vihar for the past 15 years and is nowhere to be found since the day violence broke out.

He has received no information yet and has been doing the rounds of the GTB Hospital. "We live in Uttar Pradesh but my brother has been living in Delhi for a long time," he said.

Many families have not found their loved ones since the day of violence. About 47 people have died in the riots that engulfed the national Capital. Four bodies were found in Shiv Vihar drain on Sunday, while the search for more is still on. Many people are missing and families continue to live in fear. More than 350 are said to be injured and admitted in different hospitals.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has directed the police to submit a report on the action taken on the court's February 26 order to ensure safe evacuation and treatment of those injured in the violence. The Delhi Police has, on the other hand, registered 369 FIRs and detained or arrested 1,284 in this connection, a senior officer said. Forty-one of the cases were registered under the Arms Act, they said.

As compensation, the Delhi government will give Rs 2 lakh to the families of victims who were killed in the violence.

The compensation is part of the government's existing scheme to offer relief funds to victims killed in any disaster or other such incidents. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the family of the slain Intelligence Bureau (IB) official who was killed and his body was found lying in a drain in Chand Bagh.

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