Kolkata: The two grew up together in the narrow lanes of Dhaka’s Amin Bazaar Begun Bari, chasing cricket balls and talking about the future. Years later, Mohammad Sohail and Babu Ahmed (37) happened to be in Kolkata at the same time, but in different parts of the city: Sohail was here for treatment and was staying at a hotel in Mukundapur and Ahmed, who was visiting for his cosmetics business, had checked into Shikha Inn. It was Tuesday evening that they spoke to each other on the phone and planned to have a late-night dinner. Within hours, Babu was dead.Babu was among the nine people who died in the fire that tore through Shikha Inn, a guest house operating inside a five-storey building on 15G, Mirza Ghalib Street.“We spoke on the phone on Tuesday evening,” said Sohail, standing outside the cordoned building on Free School Street, staring at the blackened windows. “Babu told me to come down to Free School Street so that we could have a meal together and catch up. I told him I would see him soon. That dinner never happened,” he said.When Sohail visited Free School Street on Thursday morning, the usually busy street, lined with foreign exchange kiosks, eateries, shops and travel agencies, was sealed off by police. “We grew up together, we shared everything, and then we came to a foreign city for work and treatment, only to lose him like this,” said Sohail, his voice breaking. “He was alive when we spoke. How do you accept that a few hours and a few kilometres changed everything?”The tragedy has prompted a police investigation and a fire-safety audit by the KMC. But it’s little comfort for Sohail. . “His family and our common friends have been calling me up since last night. They are asking me to check if the authorities announced Babu’s name by mistake and he is still alive. I don’t have the courage to tell them Babu is no more,” said Sohail.
