Photographs: Priyanka Priyanka in New Delhi
Forty-year-old Pramod Chaurasiya, owner of an electronics shop on Mubarakpur Road, became the 12th person to be killed in the blast outside the Delhi high court on Wednesday. He died early on Thursday at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
He had accompanied three of his friends -- Vinod Thakur, Subodh Jha and Suphed Chauhan -- for a bail plea hearing of Jha's son. Three of his friends escaped with minor injuries.
None of Chaurasiya's friends, relatives and neighbours were by his side when he passed away. One of his friends Vinod Thakur said, "We have been running from one floor to another trying to find him. Till late last night, the doctors and nurses were telling us that he had suffered injuries on the shoulder and the leg, but he is okay. However, today morning at about 7 am, we came to know that he is no more."
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About 200 people shout slogans against police at hospital
Photographs: Priyanka
His younger brother Shambu had become numb ever since he came to know that his brother had passed away. He waited outside the mortuary of the hospital for his brother's body, which would then be taken to Lady Hardinge hospital for post mortem. Till 2 pm there was still no news on when Pramod's body would be taken for post mortem and handed over to them. It sparked distress among the anxious friends and family members, who had by now become restless.
A small group of 20-25 men, most of them friends, neighbours and relatives of Chaurasiya, gathered outside the mortuary and started shouting slogans. Hospital authorities explained that there was some paper work was yet to be done by the Delhi police. On hearing this, the group surged towards the police post located at the main entrance, opposite the emergency ward.
As they moved towards the main entrance, which is about 50 feet from the mortuary, more people joined in and the group had now become a crowd of about 200 people and they shouted slogans in front of the police post. A police officer came out, spoke to them and then accompanied a relative to the mortuary and Chaurasiya's body was sent for post mortem. He later told rediff.com that the hospital had completed its paperwork only by 1 pm and the police was doing all that it could.
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'I lost many of my close friends. I know how it feels'
Photographs: Priyanka
Chaurasiya was married and had four children. His body reached Lady Hardinge hospital at around 2.30 pm.
Meanwhile, outside the hospital, Ashok Randhawa, a shop owner at Sarojini Nagar, was offering lunch and drinking water to the relatives of those being treated at RML hospital. He later explained that he had missed the blasts in Sarojini Nagar in 2005 by a whisker, "I had just left my friends to call the police to control the crowd in the market which was getting out of hand. Just as I left the place, the blast happened; I lost many of my close friends. I know how it feels. Since then, I make it a point to share food and drinking water with relatives and friends of people injured in bomb blasts in the city. They don't eat much but I offer it anyway."
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