Doctor back from daughter’s wedding, tunnel designer looking forward to Diwali – who are the victims of Kashmir terror attack?

On Monday, he was laid to rest at his native village of Naidgam in Budgam district, with a big crowd gathering to pay their respects to the popular doctor.

Shahnawaz worked as a contractual doctor in J&K’s Health Department before leaving the job five years ago and joining construction company APCO Infratech as a medical officer tending to its employees at the construction site.

Last week was his daughter’s wedding, after which he returned to work, promising his family that he would be back Tuesday when the bride goes to her parents’ home for the first time since the wedding – a key part of Kashmiri wedding rituals.

Shahnawaz was in his 50s and a father of three. His son, Mohsin, said: “He wanted me to also become a doctor. He would always encourage me. But I wanted to become a civil servant. All our dreams are shattered now. I don’t know how to think of life without him.”

A village resident said Shahnawaz was very popular in the area. “Whenever someone would fall ill in our village, he would come to their rescue. He would help everyone. He was a great doctor with a great heart,” he said.

Another victim of the terror attack, Shashi Abrol. Had called his wife, Ruchi, just 45 minutes before he was killed on Sunday. During the call, she told him she would call him back after sighting the Moon to break her Karva Chauth fast. But before she could call him back, he was shot dead when gunmen indiscriminately opened fire at the workers’ camp.

Abrol (45) was a tunnel designer, who lived with his wife and two children in Jammu. His son is studying engineering in Bhopal and his daughter is in class 4.

Ruchi, who started her fast for Karva Chauth in the early hours of Sunday, is yet to eat anything, said Shashi’s elder brother Sanjay Abrol, who drove to Jammu from Delhi as soon as he heard the tragic news.

The family said that Shashi had been working with APCO Infratech, the construction company building the Z-Morh tunnel on the Srinagar-Sonamarg road, for the last four-five years.

Before that, he had worked on the construction of a tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Ramban, and also with another company in Delhi

He had come home two months ago, Sanjay said, adding that the family was expecting Shashi to be back home for Diwali.

J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha visited the family and promised a government job for Ruchi.

Mohammed Kalim and Mohammed Haneef, both from Bihar, were also among those killed in Sunday’s attack.

They were both from Madhepura district and had moved to Kashmir seven months ago to work as painters. According to their families, Haneef and Kalim were settling in well in Kashmir and had been sending money home.

“We were always apprehensive about my husband going to a disturbed place. But he was assured of good earnings there. As there was hardly any work in Bihar, he decided to go to Kashmir,” said Haneef’s wife, Shabnam.

Haneef, from Laho village under the jurisdiction of Shankarpur police station, had even booked tickets to be back home ahead of his daughter’s wedding next year.

Kalim was from Hanuman Nagar Chaura, under Sadar police station.

Both Kalim and Haneef were acquaintances and worked as labourers to support their families when they were told about the opportunity to work in Kashmir by a common acquaintance.

Another man who lost his life in the attack was Gurmeet Singh from Punjab. From Sakhowal village in Gurdaspur district, the 38-year-old is survived by his parents, wife, daughter, and son. His father, Dharam Singh, has served as a soldier in the Army.