Lone breadwinner in family, tailor killed in Nowgam PS blast leaves behind wife, 3 children

Srinagar: Mohammad Shafi Parray left home on Friday morning in the hope of earning livelihood for his family as he assisted the police investigators to collect samples of the explosives seized from a "white collar" terror module busted recently. Little did the 47-year-old, a tailor by profession, know the job would be his last. A dutiful family man, and a devout community volunteer, Parray joined the investigators early Friday, and remained at the Nowgam police station for most part of the day, returning home twice for Friday prayers and dinner. In the evening, the tailor master put on warm clothes to beat the winter chill, and left his home to help the investigators collect the remaining samples from the explosive material seized from Faridabad, Haryana.

When he left home, his wife, daughter and two sons never imagined they would be seeing Parray for the final time, as the tailor was among the nine persons killed in the accidental blast inside the Nowgam Police station late on Friday night. The blast engulfed the whole area, not just with clouds of smoke, but with immense grief as well. The lone bread earner in his family, Parray left behind his wife and three unmarried children. 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, wherefrom wails and cries 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 did not stop swelling up again. Parray's demise has left not just the family in deep shock, but the entire neighbourhood as well.

The neighbours and relatives remembered Parray as a man of character. "He was my sister's brother-in-law. He was a man of character, 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 nearby Wanabal Chowk. Recalling the incident, 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 1,000-1,200 metres 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 mosque during the congregational prayers.

After the blast, the locals rushed to the scene and helped police pick up the dead and the injured. "We found body parts at various places. I picked up someone's arm," Wani said. Another local, Tariq Ahmad, added, "When we heard about Parray, we rushed to the scene. He (the body) did not have any legs. We also went to identify 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.