A day after the ‘bomb’ blast near the Central Reserves Police Forces (CRPF) Public School in Rohini Sector-14 has left a usually bustling market in Prashant Vihar area deserted due to fear with shops shut and businessmen reporting losses during festive season on Monday amid officials from different security agencies present, investigating the spot.

The shops, opposite to the school, which sustained damage worth lakhs remained mostly shut and even those open saw very less turnout of consumers ahead of the festival of Diwali. Devendra Goyal, who’s shop Bhagwati Jewellers is one among those who sustained impacts due to the blast, said that he has opened his shop, which is opposite to the school, today to assess the damage

“We have sustained damages worth Rs four lakhs due to the blast. Sign boards, glass panes, cupboards and so many other things have been damaged. But what’s even worse is that this is a day when we usually don’t have any time, you see no one coming to buy anything because of the fear,” he said.

“Yesterday was Karwachauth when the blast took place and in just a few days it’s Diwali, when consumers are lining up to buy jewellery. But no one is coming out and no one knows how long we will see this. In the meanwhile, we will incur huge losses and have no one to go to for help,” the distressed businessman said.

Moreover, all the eateries were closed. A 22 year old labourer was seen taking out damaged equipment from a sweet shop. On being asked why they are not opening the shops, he said, “The shop has been damaged and also no one is coming to eat here because of the blast that happened.”

A 50 year old Mohammed Siraj, who is a tailor and sits on the road near to the school for the last 25 years, said this Diwali won’t be the same as there are hardly any customers coming since the day for getting their clothes stitched which is usually the case around this time.

Further, the two schools, CRPF public and Lancent’s Convent, saw lower turnout of students. A resident of the area said that while 1000s of children study in the school, the turnout remained significantly low on Monday. “Parents were afraid to send their kids and some students that came were also accompanied by their guardians as compared to the usual day when they come from school buses,” a resident of the area said.

Moreover, officials from different investigative agencies including the Delhi Police, Special Cell, National Investigative Agency (NIA) and National Security Guard (NSG) continue to probe the spot. Saumya Shukla n New Delhi

A day after the ‘bomb’ blast near the Central Reserves Police Forces (CRPF) Public School in Rohini Sector-14 has left a usually bustling market in Prashant Vihar area deserted due to fear with shops shut and businessmen reporting losses during festive season on Monday amid officials from different security agencies present, investigating the spot.

The shops, opposite to the school, which sustained damage worth lakhs remained mostly shut and even those open saw very less turnout of consumers ahead of the festival of Diwali. Devendra Goyal, who’s shop Bhagwati Jewellers is one among those who sustained impacts due to the blast, said that he has opened his shop, which is opposite to the school, today to assess the damage

“We have sustained damages worth Rs four lakhs due to the blast. Sign boards, glass panes, cupboards and so many other things have been damaged. But what’s even worse is that this is a day when we usually don’t have any time, you see no one coming to buy anything because of the fear,” he said.

“Yesterday was Karwachauth when the blast took place and in just a few days it’s Diwali, when consumers are lining up to buy jewellery. But no one is coming out and no one knows how long we will see this. In the meanwhile, we will incur huge losses and have no one to go to for help,” the distressed businessman said.

Moreover, all the eateries were closed. A 22 year old labourer was seen taking out damaged equipment from a sweet shop. On being asked why they are not opening the shops, he said, “The shop has been damaged and also no one is coming to eat here because of the blast that happened.”

A 50 year old Mohammed Siraj, who is a tailor and sits on the road near to the school for the last 25 years, said this Diwali won’t be the same as there are hardly any customers coming since the day for getting their clothes stitched which is usually the case around this time.

Further, the two schools, CRPF public and Lancent’s Convent, saw lower turnout of students. A resident of the area said that while 1000s of children study in the school, the turnout remained significantly low on Monday. “Parents were afraid to send their kids and some students that came were also accompanied by their guardians as compared to the usual day when they come from school buses,” a resident of the area said.

Moreover, officials from different investigative agencies including the Delhi Police, Special Cell, National Investigative Agency (NIA) and National Security Guard (NSG) continue to probe the spot.