Kin return solatium after blast victim comes back

Ahmedabad, May 12: As a man came back home four years after he was believed to have died in

, his family has returned the solatium which the authorities had given them.

Vipul Patel, 36, a resident of Khadia, could not be traced after a total of 20 blasts rocked the city on July 26, 2008, killing 57 persons in all. The identity of one of the victims was not established at that time.

On the basis of a talisman found around the neck, Vipul's relatives claimed the body 55 days after the blasts. Subsequently, the authorities declared that he was one of those killed in the bomb blasts at Hatkeshwar.

They also gave his family Rs 5 lakh as compensation. However, when amazingly he returned home safe and sound four years later, the family wrote to District Collector Vijay Nehra that since Vipul was alive, they would not like to keep the amount any longer.

Vipul's elder brother Mukesh handed over the money to the collector on May 10. "It's a matter of great delight that the man was found alive and it is also heartening to see that positivity is still alive among people that they contacted us on their own and expressed their desire to return the money," the collector said.

The district administration will soon cancel Vipul's death certificate. They are still clueless about who exactly died in the blast at Hatkeshwar four years ago.

OneIndia News