Delhi serial bombings affect UP families

LUCKNOW: The ripples of Saturday's serial blasts in New Delhi, which claimed 24 lives, are being felt in Uttar Pradesh. While the wife of the autorickshaw driver who ferried one of the terrorists waits for her injured husband, a father has been mourning the death of his young son.

For Santoshi, the illiterate wife of Moolchand, who took the terrorists to Gaffar market, the wait for her husband's return seems endless.

A resident of Berkhera village in Allahabad district, about 280 km from here, Moolchand had gone to earn a living about two years ago.

After the blast, Santoshi was first informed that her husband was dead. Later, she was told that he was injured and undergoing treatment at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi.

Santoshi's brother, Santosh, went to meet him and returned to Allahabad on Tuesday.

"However, the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) cops did not allow me to call my sister and let him talk to her," Santosh said.

Being an eyewitness, Moolchand has been kept under tight security. Santoshi has decided to head to the national capital Wednesday night in the hope of seeing her husband.

In the state capital, Chhote Lal, who works in the state's social welfare department, performed the last rites of his son Vikas Anand late on Tuesday.

Vikas had received severe injuries in the blast in the central park of Connaught Place and died on Monday. His body was brought here the next day.

"After completing MBA from Lucknow University, Vikas got selected in the campus interview and joined IDBI Bank in New Delhi in June," his friend Sudhanshu, who had come to Lucknow to attend his last rites, said.

Sudhanshu, a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Vikas and some other friends were standing near the dustbin in central park when the explosion took place.

"We were just standing there when the dustbin suddenly exploded. After that we lost each other in the crowd," Sudhanshu said.