The Telegraph, October 1, 2008
Rs 8 lakh-redress lost on seething town
Scarred Malegaon remains on edge
SATISH NANDGAONKAR
Malegaon residents at the funeral of Monday’s blast victims
Malegaon, Sept. 30: Deputy chief minister R.R. Patil didn’t have cheques tossed back at him, but few in Malegaon cared about the Rs 8 lakh he brought for families of each of those killed in last night’s blast.
Such was the anger over the loss of lives that the Maharashtra leader announced the sum at a news conference in the heavily guarded state guesthouse.
Of the Rs 8 lakh, the Congress-NCP state government will pay Rs 5 lakh. The Centre will pay the rest. The 112 injured will get Rs 50,000 each.
After the Shab-e-Barat blasts on September 8, 2006, Shafiq Ahmad, who lost his son, had tossed back a cheque for Rs 1 lakh that Sonia Gandhi offered him days later. He had instead offered her Rs 10 lakh if the Congress-led government arrested his son’s killers within 24 hours.
Hamdani Shakeel Ahmad, a former journalist who owns a shop in Bhiku Chowk, the scene of yesterday’s attack, said: “People know politicians will bend over backwards since elections are close. The hefty compensation is hardly important. It does not solve the problem of terrorism.”
The four dead have been identified as Farheen Shaikh, 8, Shaikh Azhar Abdul 15, Shaikh Rafique, 21, and Mushtaq Ahmed, 30.
Little Farheen, who stayed in a lane close to Bhiku Chowk, had stepped out to buy pakoras when the explosion hit her.
Her father Liyaqat Shaikh was inconsolable. “She wanted to be a doctor,” he sobbed.
Others fumed. “What is the status of Muslims in (Union home minister) Shivraj Patil’s India and R.R. Patil’s Maharashtra? How long will Muslims put up with this?” screamed Syed Asif Ali as Patil arrived at the site.
The anger had spilled onto the streets soon after last night’s blasts, with a missile-hurling mob attacking the nearby Azad Nagar police station.
The assault left 35 policemen injured, including a young IPS probationer, Vrajesh Prabhu, who had to be taken to a Mumbai hospital with severe head injuries.
A constable, Sahebrao Patil, was yanked out of an anti-riot vehicle and beaten up.
Police sources said the mob tried to strangle Patil.
The curfew imposed till this morning in Bhiku Chowk was relaxed and hundreds gathered at Bada Kabrastan — where one of the three bombs had gone off in September 2006 — to bury those killed in last night’s attack.
The motorbike, in which the explosive device was suspected to have been kept, has been found. Forensic expert Dhananjay Mohite said 2 to 3kg of explosives had been used.
Eyewitness Javed Attarwala, in hospital with multiple injuries, said he had spotted the bike around 7pm and had informed Durgah Gate police station.
“I told them I put up my attar (perfume) stall here every day and this bike has cropped up out of nowhere. But the police did not do anything,” he said from his hospital bed.
Patil has promised to investigate the allegation.
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