Lying on a bed at Yashoda Hospital, Mirza Abdul Wasey (23) regrets visiting the tiffin centre near Konark theatre where he ended up sustaining injuries in the powerful explosions that ripped through the busy Dilsukhnagar on Thursday evening.
This was his second providential escape. Five years ago, in the blast at Mecca Masjid, Wasey sustained injuries and underwent four surgeries for removal of shrapnel lodged in his neck, legs and abdomen.
“I went to have tea at the eatery, and within seconds I heard a thud with thick smoke around. When I came out of the shock, I found myself a few yards away from the spot with injuries,” he said. He suffered a deep cut on his back and shrapnel wounds on his waist.
Wasey of Kalapther went to Dilsukhnagar in search of a job. A few minutes after meeting his friend, he went to the tiffin centre to have tea. “I worked in a footwear shop with a salary of Rs. 5,500 and due to some issues with my previous employer I wanted to take up job at some other shop,” he explained.
In 2007, he went to offer prayers when a bomb exploded at Mecca Masjid resulting in injuries to him along with other namazis. “It took more than a year for my son to recover from injuries, and even before things could settle another tragedy struck,” his father Mirza Shahed Gouhar said.
The family demanded stringent punishment for the perpetrators of the crime. “Innocent people of all religions have been killed due to a mindless act. The government should apprehend and punish the real culprits,” Mr. Gouhar added.
