Young member gone, family stares at uncertain future
LUCKNOW: Anas Ali, 18, left school almost a decade ago to support his family. He started by washing dishes at a restaurant, mopped cars at service stations before taking up a job at a meat shop. The toil was about to pay off in the form a meat shop that he was planning to start next year.
The prospect gave some hope to his family, but it was shattered on Tuesday – Anas was shot dead by bike-borne assailants in middle of a busy road in Raja Bazar area in broad daylight.
“His face was damaged by the bullet. I fear that this will remain with me as the last memory of Anas,” said Anas’s father Mashooq Ali seated on a plastic chair on the street outside the house.
In his early fifties, Mashooq works as a daily-wager. Others who have come to console the grieving family sit beside him dotting one side of the narrow street in Janta Nagar of Chowk. The two-room two-storey house doesn’t have enough space to accommodate many guests.
Born as the fifth of the six children of Ali household, Anas had to take care of his family from an early age considering the fact that two of his siblings had separated from the family when they started earning.
“I don’t remember the last time when he asked me to buy him something or made any demand. For years, he managed his expenses and gave me Rs 3,0004000 every month for the family,” said the father.
A section of this contribution went into the education of the youngest child, Umar,14, and the rest was deposited as EMI of the motorcycle that Anas was driving when he was murdered.
On Tuesday, Anas left his house around 12:30 pm and took his friend Shariq, 18, to buy balloons and ribbons to decorate the house for Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi. While the duo were returning home after the shopping, two men with their faces covered, came in front of their bike and opened fire on Anas.
A CCTV cam footage of the incident, accessed by HT, shows the assailant on a blue motorcycle embroiled in an argument. When Anas moves his bike forward, the man sitting as pillion on the blue bike, shoots at Anas’s head from behind.
The video shows Anas’s lifeless torso crashing on the fuel tank. He loses balance and the bike tilts the assailants’ bike. Rattled by the gunshot, Shariq jumps from behind and is seen running away from the spot.
“We just asked them to drive properly when they brought their bike too close to ours. I saw the person sitting behind searching for something in his bag. The gunshot was the next thing I heard,” said Shariq in a feeble voice while being flanked by his family members. All of them look worried. “Our family is reciting the holy book since the incident. We are all worried how the incident will affect Shariq,” said his mother.
Two streets away, outside Anas’s house the relatives have other concerns.
“It will be difficult for the family to sustain without Anas. The government must provide them some financial help,” said Malihullah Ali, the deceased’s uncle, as a small procession celebrating Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi crosses in front of the house.
“See how unlucky one can be. He (Anas) must have been in this procession had he been alive,” the uncle remarked.