Kin yet to recover from trauma
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/137 ... rauma.html
Prasanta Paul, KOLKATA, Feb 12, DHNS:
An eerie silence prevailed around the Dhars' modest household in downtown Salt Lake and the smell of gloom too refused to vacate their residence as parents of Ankik and his sister Anindyee braced themselves up for observing the first anniversary of their children tragic demise in the blast that rocked German Bakery in Pune on the fateful evening of February 13 last year.
Life would never be the same again for Amalendu Dhar and his wife Kalpana who are still struggling to live with the sweet memories of their son and daughter.
A faded-out banner pasted last year on the approach wall of the Dhars still bears testimony of the neighbour’s love for the duo.The young Kolkata trio of Ankik Dhar, Shilpa Goenka and Ankik’s sister Anindyee, were out at the German Bakery on that day. All three youngsters were killed along with eight others in the blast that ripped through the popular eatery that evening.
“Our lives have been shattered and my wife is yet to recover from the shock,” a sobbing Amalendu said.
Incidentally, all three were students of the same school in Kolkata and both Ankik and Shilpa came to Mumbai in 2009 to pursue their dreams.It was a quirk of fate that the 19-year-old Anindyee had asked for the true interpretation of death during a poetry class and insisted on how life could be beautiful despite the fact that it was going to end in death, her teacher had recalled.
While Kalpana is a home-maker, Amlendu works with the ONGC in Assam. Amalendu’s colleagues and neighbours stood by the family during this period.
“We tried our best to give company to Kalpana so that she does not feel lonely. But despite that, she often cries for her children and occasionally faints,” said a neighbour Shilpa Goenka, who perished in the blast, used to work at a Pune-based IT firm, and was a resident of Jamuna Apartment in Lake Town on the northern fringes of the city.
She was the youngest of three sisters and people in the neighbourhood claimed that the Goenkas had since then “recoiled unto themselves” and did not interact much with the locals.
“Please do not enter the house. We are all still in a state of shock,” said Mahendra Saraog, her uncle.Efforts to talk to Shilpa’s elder sisters did not yield result either.
On bakery bombing anniversary, Pune pays homage to victims
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/137 ... -pune.html
Pune, Feb 13, (PTI):
Candle light processions and peace marches were taken out in the city on Sunday to pay homage to the victims of the German Bakery bomb blast that left 17 people, including four foreigners, dead and over 50 injured on this day last year.
Memorial services have been organised for those who were killed on that fateful day when a powerful bomb kept under one of the tables in the eatery exploded, flattening the structure in Koregaon area and leaving a trail of destruction.
The explosion, that occurred at 6.57 PM, also put Pune - the cultural and academic capital of Maharashtra which has now turned into an IT and auto hub - on the terror map along with neighbouring Mumbai.
It took nearly six months for Maharashtra Anti- Terrorist Squad (ATS) to nab Himayat Baig, the alleged mastermind behind the blast, who hails from Latur, in Marathwada region, where he ran a cyber cafe and had links with Indian Mujaheedin and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba.
Baig, who is on trial after his arrest on September 7, is accused of hatching a conspiracy to blow up the eatery, frequented by foreigners, along with six absconding co- conspirators, during a visit to Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
Snehal Kharose, owner of the eatery who was given a financial assistance of Rs 14 lakh to rebuild the structure, said it would take a few weeks to restart the food joint which would have a memorial in its premises for the victims of the bombing.
Pune Police Commissioner Meeran Borwankar said all police stations had been sensitised after the bombing with formation of special squads for rapid response to a situation and appealed to citizens to remain alert about any possible suspicious activity in their vicinity.
The upscale Koregaon Park area, which along with the German Bakery is home to other perceived terrorist targets such as Chhabad House of Jew community and Osho Ashram with foreign inmates, did not have a police station at the time of the attack.
The Maharashtra Government has recently given a go ahead for a full-fledged police station in the area.
Lakshman pays tribute to Pune blast victims
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/137 ... blast.html
Pune, Feb 13, (IANS):
Cricketer V.V.S. Lakshman on Sunday paid tribute to victims of last year's blast at Pune's popular German bakery by offering flowers and lighting a candle at the site ahead of a series of memorial services planned as a mark of homage here.
Lakshman visited German Bakery, which still bears the scars of the blast and is being renovated.
A number of memorial services, candle light processions and other tributes have been planned across the city Sunday evening to pay homage to those who lost their lives in the blast. The terror attack exactly a year back left 17 dead, including four foreigners, and 65 injured.
Besides leaving a permanent scar on Pune residents, the terror blast shattered the image of Pune as a quiet city, the academic and IT capital of the state, enjoying a salubrious climate round the year and making it one of the finest urban hubs in Maharashtra.
The blast also restricted movement of youngsters, especially in their favourite hang-out spots all over the city, for sometime. The German Bakery was one such venue, popular with locals and foreigners alike.
Last year, before the blast took place, Pune's young crowd was warming up to the much-awaited Valentine's Day celebrations the following day. Their celebrations were cut short at 6.55 p.m. when the bomb ripped through the bakery, claiming 17 lives.