Last outing together, youth loses 2 friends

Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, October 20

Three friends — Karan (21), Amritpal Singh (19) and Rajbir (16) — from adjoining Mohkampura and New Dashmesh Nagar colonies had walked down to Joda Phatak to witness the Dasehra event, little knowing that a train would kill two of them.

For Karan, who is recovering in a hospital, the pain of losing two friends may stay with him forever.

Karan suffered head injuries and multiple fractures in the limbs. “Since he is in the ICU, we haven’t been able to talk to him much,” says brother Rohit.

His mother, who lives in New Dashmesh Nagar, says Karan left for the mela along with his friends. “We kept calling him up on his phone but he didn’t answer. My husband and two other sons searched for him before finding him at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital,” she says.

Amritpal’s family is distraught. “This was the first time he had gone with friends to watch the festivities. Having cleared Class XII, Amritpal was taking training in hairdressing,” lamented father Joginder Singh and elder brother Pritpal Singh.

At Rajbir’s Mohkampura residence, grandfather Tarsem Singh lent his shoulder to the body for cremation. His father Lal Singh, an ironsmith, says a call from a neighbour brought his life to a screeching halt.

There were similar tragic tales in the locality. Seventeen-year-old Mohan spotted the body of childhood friend Neeraj on the tracks. “He had asked me to accompany him, but my parents did not allow me to go,” says Mohan, showing his selfie with Neeraj.