Delhi blast victim was sole breadwinner, supported family of 8

Delhi blast

The small town of Amroha in Uttar Pradesh is grieving the loss of Ashok Kumar, one of the nine victims who died in the car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort on Monday evening.

For his family, Ashok was the only source of livelihood. The 40-year-old Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus conductor was the sole breadwinner for a family of eight, including his wife, four children, mother and elder brother.

Ashok had been working as a conductor on a cluster bus covering the Old Delhi route. When his cousin Pappu saw Ashok’s name among the list of victims, he was in disbelief. “I read his name in the list and said, ‘He is my cousin.’ I called around to confirm. He also had a bike, which is missing right now,” Pappu was quoted by NDTV as saying.

Ashok’s cousin believes he may have been either returning from duty or heading somewhere nearby when the explosion occurred. He lived in Jagatpur, about 15 km from the site of the blast, with his wife and four children, three daughters and one son.

His elderly mother, Somwati, lives in Amroha with her elder son, Subhash, who is unwell and unable to work. “Ashok managed everything alone. He used to work as a conductor during the day and a security guard at night to support everyone,” Pappu said.

Outside LNJP Hospital, scenes of despair continued as families searched for missing loved ones. Among them was an elderly man looking for his relative, Lokesh Kumar Gupta. He revealed that Ashok was supposed to meet Lokesh at Chandni Chowk metro station after work.

“We both left Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the evening. Lokesh took the metro to Chandni Chowk, where Ashok was meant to receive him,” NDTV quoted him as saying.

While Ashok lost his life in the blast, Lokesh remains missing.