Raj Deo Prasad Singh with his family in Hajipur. Picture by Sachin

Rural works minister Bhim Singh is not lonely in his apathy for martyrs, the administrators of the state before him have also been equally callous.

A former armyman who lost his mother and daughter in a terrorist attack 11 years ago is yet to receive a promised compensation amount from the state government.

Raj Deo Prasad Singh, 47, lost his daughter Kumari Priya (7) and mother Avalodhan Devi (65) in the Kulachak massacre on May 14, 2002. Another daughter, Kumari Surya, now 14, was hit by 13 bullets but survived.

Then chief minister Rabri Devi had reportedly promised Singh Rs 2 lakh as an ex gratia amount but the government is yet to deliver on the promise.

At present, Singh is a Special Auxiliary Police jawan and posted as a driver at the Bypass police station in Patna City. He lives at Virat Nagar in Vaishali district, 25km north of Patna, with wife Pushpa Devi (37), daughters Kumari Surya, Kumari Supriya, 11, and Pihu Raj, 8, and son Master Rohan in a two-room rented house.

But even after a decade, the family cannot forget the horrific day when they lost their near and dear ones.

Three terrorists — who, the Union government later claimed, were Pakistani nationals — had boarded a bus from Himachal Pradesh to Kulachak in Jammu. When the bus neared the town, the terrorists, dressed in Indian Army fatigues, had opened fire in the bus. Chased by army personnel, they had tried to escape into the quarters for the security personnel on the main road of the town. Once inside, they had opened fire on the family members of the soldiers.

Singh’s wife Pushpa breaks down as she recalls the incident. “My daughter and mother-in-law were killed in front of my eyes. I hid with my son Roshan and stifled his screams by putting a piece of cloth into his mouth so that the terrorists wouldn’t find us.”

Besides the three terrorists, three soldiers, 18 members of army families and 10 civilians were killed in the attack that brought India and Pakistan almost to the edge of a war.

Among those who survived was Singh’s daughter Kumari Surya. “She suffered injuries of 13 bullets. All the bones in her left hand and lower jaw were broken and her stomach and ribs are in a bad shape,” said Singh, adding that his meagre income of Rs 12,000 is not enough to make ends meet for the family, leave alone access sophisticated health care.

Singh said. “I want to give a good education to all my children but don’t have the money. Rabri Devi had promised Rs 2 lakh as ex gratia but we have got nothing so far. If we get the money, I would be able to save some of it for the wedding of my daughters.”

But his hopes are turning bleak everyday, in the cruel glare of all-round apathy.

Asked about it, RJD chief and Rabri’s husband, Lalu Prasad, said: “She (Rabri) never announced any such compensation. Is there any record of such a promise?”

Chief minister’s principal secretary Anjani Kumar Singh was unavailable for comment.