Rajib Paul’s body being handed over to his brother Manoj at GMCH on Friday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, Aug. 2: One moment 23-year-old Rajib Paul was hours away from a new life and the next, he was days away from death. And all it took was an indifference towards life and a hand grenade.

The youth from Hojai in Assam’s Nagaon district was just a few metres from the railway station at Paltan Bazar on Sunday evening when the grenade exploded, splinters hitting him and several others.

He died of his injuries at 6 last evening, taking with him the dreams his family had about his future.

Rajib was about to board the Kanchenjunga Express for Siliguri, where a mobile company had called him for a job interview.

“Last Sunday, Rajib was very excited and happy about coming to Guwahati to catch a train to Siliguri to appear in a job interview in a mobile company. He had completed his graduation in the commerce stream from Hojai College this year. He received the interview call letter last month and told us that he would pursue his post-graduation while working. He had plans to take admission in a college in Siliguri,” Rajib’s elder brother, Manoj, 30, told The Telegraph at GMCH today.

Manoj, who came from Hojai this morning to take his brother’s body home, cried inconsolably after seeing it lying on the floor at the post-mortem department of the hospital.

“What will I do now? How will I console my parents? My mother is a heart patient and has not yet been told about Rajib. She is still under the impression that he is in Siliguri for the interview,” he said.

According to Manoj, who helps their father, Narayan, run a small electrical goods store in Hojai, his brother was good in studies and secured first division in matric and higher secondary examinations.

“The family had pinned great hopes on Rajib. Since he studied commerce, my father wished he would help him expand his business in the future. He had some good business ideas too. We have now lost everything,” Manoj said.

Dulal Debnath, a close relative of the victim, said, “Rajib was carrying a bag with documents like marksheets, certificates and other papers about his educational qualifications. The bag is missing. The police told us that they did not find any bags on Rajib,” he said.

GMCH superintendent Ramen Talukdar said Rajib died of splinter injuries in his abdomen. “He underwent a surgery on the very day of the blast. He was in need of O-negative blood and though it’s a rare blood group, many people came forward and donated blood,” he said.