Aditya Mehta, 21, of New Delhi, who sustained injuries at Saturday’s blast at the German Bakery here, died at the Jehangir Hospital on Wednesday. With this, the death toll in the blast has gone up to eleven.
Aditya was a final-year student of electronics at the Bharati Vidyapeeth here. He was to have completed his course in three months.
He had gone to the bakery with his friend Aditi Jindal. They were at the centre table when the bomb exploded. Aditi suffered 40 per cent burns and her leg was amputated at the Inlaks Budhrani hospital.
Aditya suffered over 60 per cent burns and both his legs had to be amputated below the knees. On Wednesday, he died of burns and multiple internal injuries. There was also contamination of the wounds.
His father Jayprakash Mehta said at the Sassoon Hospital, where he had come to take his only son’s body: “I never want to come back to Pune again.”
Fond of guitar
Aditya’s local guardian, Mangesh Mukhedkar, said he was a football player and had represented his college in tournaments. He was also fond of playing the guitar.
“His mother has not eaten three days since she came to know of Aditya’s injuries in the blast,” said Mr. Mukhedkar. He added that many of Aditya’s friends had come to see him at the Jehangir Hospital, some from Delhi.
One of his friends said, “Aditya was a jolly and fun-loving person and also good at studies.” The body will be taken to New Delhi, where the final rites will be conducted.
Police chief’s stand
Pune Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh expressed suspicion that the bomb that went off at the German Bakery might have been triggered by a remote control. A final confirmation was still awaited.
His personal opinion was that the amount of RDX used in the explosion was not much. The forensics science laboratory’s report would confirm the amount of RDX was awaited. However, it had been confirmed that RDX, ammonium nitrate and petroleum hydrocarbon oil were used in the bomb.
Mr. Singh refused to comment on the number of people arrested or detained in the case, or if anyone was arrested at all. However, there were unconfirmed reports that four persons had been taken into custody at Hampi in Karnataka.
Brilliant student
Our New Delhi reporter writes:
Shocked neighbours and friends of Aditya here remember him as a brilliant student and a good football player.
“I knew him since my school days. We both studied at Bal Bharati Public School. He was a year senior. He was more than a friend. I enrolled in the same tuition classes as him. He was very studious and a good football player. I remember playing football with him in the evenings,” said Ashish Nangia, who lives in the same Chandrapriya Apartments in Rohini Sector 8 where Aditya did.
Recalling Aditya’s recent visit to Delhi, Ashish, who is pursuing engineering from a Gurgaon college, said: “He had come to Delhi for a week in January. He told me that he was preparing for GRE and wanted to go abroad. When a friend broke the news of his death to me in the morning, I was stunned. At first I could not believe it. But soon, the news was all over the television. I had heard about the Pune blasts, but was clueless that Aditya was among the injured.”
Aditya’s elder sister, Misha, is pursuing MBA from Indraprastha University in Delhi. His father Jai Prakash Mehta is a businessman.
Neighbour Pankaj Chawla said: “Aditya was expected to return to Delhi in the next couple of months after completing his studies. His parents and sister were very excited. But fate had something else in store for him. His parents left for Pune hours after the blast took place. His sister and aunt left in the early hours on Wednesday. The family is expected to return late in the night with the body and the cremation will take place on Thursday.”
