PATNA: A pall of gloom has descended over the house of 55-year-old Veeranjan Paswan at Saidpur in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district since Tuesday as the news of his death in a terror attack in Kashmir came as a lightning strike. Veeranjan Paswan was a golgappa seller and had been working in the Valley for the last two and half years along with a brother and a few other relatives.
“Only a day before he was killed, father told my mother that he had booked ticket for coming home to celebrate Dussehra,” said Vikram Kumar, the victim’s son. Rameshwar Paswan, a villager, termed Veeranjan an “honest man”. Veeranjan had married off his first daughter Kanchan Kumari by taking a loan of Rs 2 lakh, he said.
The relatives said the victim had moved to Srinagar with a hope to clear his outstanding debts. Weeping inconsolably, Putul Devi, Veeranjan’s wife, said: “Ham sab garib hai so koi nahi madad kar raha (We are so poor that nobody is coming forward to help)”. The couple has six children – four daughters and two sons. “My husband was the lone bread-earner of the family,” Putul Devi said.
Victim’s daughter Neha Kumari said the family has not just lost its bread earner but also all hopes for a better future. “Had we been born in a rich family of any neta, many would have come to help us. We are seeing no way to survive,” she said.
Birendra Paswan, brother of Veeranjan, and a golgappa seller in Kashmir, was the first to inform about the incident to Putul Devi. The victim’s last rites were performed in Srinagar in the presence of Birendra and a relative.
Meanwhile, Bhagalpur DIG Sujeet Kumar said the local SHO of Jagdishpur had gone to meet the family after information about Veeranjan’s death was received.
Moved to Srinagar to clear debts
Veeranjan was the sole breadwinner of the family. He had married off his first daughter by borrowing `2 lakh. Relatives said he had moved to Srinagar hoping to clear his outstanding debts