Four Amarnath tourists, who were killed in the terrorist attack in Srinagar on Tuesday, belonged to a single family from Hyderabad and Kolkata. The victims were: South Central Railway official Sandeep Bhattacharjee (47), his wife Chhaya (43), his elder sister Kaveri Ghosh Roy (51) and his mother Pratima Devi (65). Sandeep's brother-in-law Ashish Ghosh Roy and his mother-in-law Kamala Bhattacharjee suffered serious injuries.
Gloom descended on Mirzalguda and Anandbagh localities in Malkajgiri municipality adjoining Hyderabad when the local television channels flashed the news.
Sandeep's son Sushmith, a class X student, collapsed on the bed after hearing it on his return from Takshashila School.
Sandeep's daughter Babli (20), a third year engineering student, wept inconsolably, hugging her brother Sushmit. "I want my mom and dad back," she screamed and fainted. She came to know about her parents' death after returning home from Narayanamma College at 7.30 pm on Tuesday.
According to Shikha, it was her mother Pratima Devi's long-cherished dream to visit the Amarnath shrine. "She said the pilgrimage was her last wish and wanted the entire family to accompany her. My brother, elder sister and their spouses went with them," Babli said.
"My family was planning for the Amarnath yatra for the past two to three years but it materialised this year," Sandeep's younger son Dileep said.
The trip was planned three months ago. Initially, only Sandeep's wife and mother were planning to go. "Sandeep decided to join them at the last minute. I had advised my brother not to go to Kashmir because of recurrent news of blasts there. But they opted for Amarnath instead. It is a big loss for us," Dileep said.
Pratima, Sandeep, Chaya and Kamala left for Kolkata from Hyderabad by train on July 4 on their way to Amarnath. Kaveri and Ashis joined them in Kolkata. They were accompanied by 10 others. Their team consisted of 16 members.
The team took a train to Jammu on July 7 and reached Srinagar on its way to Vaishnodevi. They set out for sight-seeing in Srinagar as their trek to the caves was to start in a couple of days," Dileep said.
"We got information from Kolkata. I called up Srinagar police who confirmed the news," Dileep said and added, "The bodies will be flown to Kolkata. Most of our relatives are there and the last rites will be held there."
Originally from West Bengal, Sandeep's family had settled in Hyderabad 20 years ago. Working as a commercial inspector in SCR, he was living with his family at Mirjalaguda.
His mother Pratima Devi lived at nearby Anand Bagh locality with her daughter Shikha, who runs a beauty parlour. Pratima's eldest daughter Kaveri lived in Kolkota with her husband Ashish Ghosh Roy, an executive officer in the Geological Survey of India.
Kaveri's sons -- Ananda and Anandiya -- reside in Hyderabad. On learning the news, they took a flight to Srinagar on Tuesday evening.
The local residents of East Anandbagh and Mirjalaguda were shocked since the incident came close on the heels of the kidnapping and killing of a Hyderabadi-based engineer Kasula Suryanarayana by Talibans in Afghanistan on April 30. Suryanarayana's family stays in the same area.
According to a report from Srinagar, the Amarnath pilgrimage had to be called off.
A mini-bus carrying these Amarnath bound pilgrims was attacked by militants at the tourist hub area of Dalgate on Tuesday.
Life in Srinagar limped back to normal on Wednesday with shops and markets opening and traffic plying normally.
The city witnessed an extraordinary mounting of security. A meeting of the unified command headquarters wa held on Wednesday to take a look at the state's overall security.
