Panipat, Nov 11 (Agencies): The DNA tests conducted by National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the bodies of victims of Samjhauta Express blasts finally helped a Pakistani girl find her father, who was missing since February 17, a day before the blasts killed 68 persons on board the train.
As per official records, a copy of which is available with TOI, the person buried in a grave, numbered 38, at Mehrana village was Mohammad Vakeel of Hafizabad of Pakistan. His daughter Rohila, whose blood samples were used to match the DNAs, had been searching for her father across the jails in the country, fearing that he could have been arrested by Indian security agencies.
Mohammad Vakeel had come to India on February 14, 2007 to meet his relatives at Bhasani village in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. He bid farewell to his relatives on February 17 and left for Pakistan. His family, however, remained uncertain whether he boarded the Samjhauta Express, which made them believe that he could have been lodged in one of the jails in the country.
Rohila then started searching for her father across 60 jails of the country, but her attempts proved futile. It was then that her relatives made sure that Mohammad had boarded the Samjhauta Express, after which Rohila got in touch with a local lawyer Momin Malik, who helped her trace her father to the grave numbered 38 in Mehrana graveyard, where 68 victims of the blasts were buried.
Momin Malik said he had informed Rohila about the revelations, who will be visiting the country soon to see her father's grave. She would also be filing an application claiming compensation, announced by Indian Railways, for relatives of blast victims.
Meanwhile, Malik said that efforts to ascertain the identity of 14 other bodies, which were buried as unidentified in Mehrana graveyard, were also on.
As per official records, a copy of which is available with TOI, the person buried in a grave, numbered 38, at Mehrana village was Mohammad Vakeel of Hafizabad of Pakistan. His daughter Rohila, whose blood samples were used to match the DNAs, had been searching for her father across the jails in the country, fearing that he could have been arrested by Indian security agencies.
Mohammad Vakeel had come to India on February 14, 2007 to meet his relatives at Bhasani village in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. He bid farewell to his relatives on February 17 and left for Pakistan. His family, however, remained uncertain whether he boarded the Samjhauta Express, which made them believe that he could have been lodged in one of the jails in the country.
Rohila then started searching for her father across 60 jails of the country, but her attempts proved futile. It was then that her relatives made sure that Mohammad had boarded the Samjhauta Express, after which Rohila got in touch with a local lawyer Momin Malik, who helped her trace her father to the grave numbered 38 in Mehrana graveyard, where 68 victims of the blasts were buried.
Momin Malik said he had informed Rohila about the revelations, who will be visiting the country soon to see her father's grave. She would also be filing an application claiming compensation, announced by Indian Railways, for relatives of blast victims.
Meanwhile, Malik said that efforts to ascertain the identity of 14 other bodies, which were buried as unidentified in Mehrana graveyard, were also on.
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