Sarojini Nagar blast survivor offers comfort to kin of Red Fort victims

Outside the mortuary at Maulana Azad Medical College on Tuesday afternoon, a man in his 40s arrived quietly with packets of food and bottles of water.

Ashok Randhawa, a survivor of the 2005 serial bomb blasts, had come to offer not just food and water but also to provide comfort to the grieving families of the Red Fort blast.

2005 serial blasts

Mr. Randhawa was in Sarojini Nagar on October 29, when a bomb went off at the busy marketplace during the pre-Deepavali festive rush, killing 37 people.

Two other bombs went off in other parts of the city in close succession claiming a total of 62 lives and injuring over 200 people.

Saved from the carnage, he went on to found an NGO, the South Asian Forum for People Against Terror, which helps blast victims with paperwork, body transport, and other logistical support.

Old wounds reopened

“The blast has reopened old wounds,” said Mr. Randhawa, who also heads the Sarojini Nagar Market Traders’ Association.

“It was Dhanteras that day. The market was packed with vendors selling puja items when a deafening sound shook everything. Before anyone could make sense of it, a nearby cylinder exploded, setting the stalls on fire,” he recalled.

He added, “Our general secretary, Lal Chand Saluja, was called in to manage the crowd. His body was later found cut in half.”

‘Exhausting process’

“The real ordeal begins when families come to the mortuary. The process of handing over bodies is physically and emotionally exhausting. Endless paperwork is thrust before grieving relatives, who are still trying to process the shock,” he said.

Sitting by the mortuary gate, Mr. Randhawa kept stacks of water bottles and tea ready. “The family members must be hungry and exhausted,” he said, keeping track of whose bodies had been identified and who had managed to get an ambulance.

The terror attack survivor added, “Security at Sarojini Nagar Market still feels lax. A handful of officers can hardly manage the hundreds of visitors who gather there, especially during the festive season.”