Mumbai, Apr 23 (PTI) The colleagues of Atul Mone, an engineer at a railway workshop in Mumbai, were shocked as the news of Pahalgam terror attack flashed on TV, but at that time they did not think in their wildest dreams that he would be among the victims.

It was only later that they learnt about Mone’s death in the ghastly attack, which has left them stunned and shattered and they are yet to come to terms with the fact that their friend and co-worker is no more.

Mone’s grief-stricken co-workers are now only left with good memories of a talented and friendly person that he was.

Terrorists struck at a prime tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir on Tuesday, killing at least 26 persons, mostly tourists, and injuring several others.

The mood at the Central Railway’s British-era workshop in Parel, which would be bustling with activity on any other day, was sombre on Wednesday as Mone’s co-workers and other staffers mourned his untimely death.

A photograph of Mone, adorned with flowers, was placed on a table near the workshop’s main entry gate as a mark of tribute to him.

The railway employees’ unions put up boards in the vicinity to condemn the terror attack and pay tribute to Mone.

Mone (43), a resident of Dombivli in neighbouring Thane district, worked as a senior section engineer in the wheel shop of the railway workshop here.

He went to Kashmir over the weekend with his family members and friends for a week-long tour.

His colleague Rajesh Nadar told PTI that he learnt about the Pahalgam terror attack around 5.30 pm on Tuesday, but he never suspected that Mone would be one of the victims.

To check Mone’s whereabouts, Nadar made a WhatsApp call to him at around 8 pm but it went unanswered, which made him concerned.

“At that time, I got a little worried about him and thereafter, within 30 minutes news flashed on TV channels,” he said, adding he then got information about Mone’s death and the tragedy has left all of them shocked.

“He was a good human being and a talented engineer. He was also a calm and friendly person,” Nadar said, adding he never thought his co-worker would meet such a tragic end.

Deepak Kaipath, another engineer at the railway workshop, said he was working along with Mone for last nine years since their batch of 30 engineers got promoted in 2016.

“We couldn’t eat and sleep after learning about Mone’s death. We used to meet daily, talk to each other, eat together, and all of sudden death has taken him away from us. It is still unbelievable,” Kaipath said.

Mone’s another colleague Bhushan Gaikwad said both of them had the last conversation on the occasion of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on April 14.

“The Railways has lost an excellent engineer as he was good at work and performing his duties with dedication at the wheel shop, where his duty was to ensure keep a tab on the timely arrival and dispatch of railway wheels,” Gaikwad said.

Another colleague Nitin Patil said he had a conversation with Mone on WhatsApp on Monday night when the latter informed him about his Kashmir tour. Mone had seen Patil’s WhatsApp status about his Goa trip.

“I was shocked when I learnt about his death,” Patil, a resident of Kalyan town neighbouring Dombivli, said, adding that they used to regularly travel together back home from work.

Mone joined the Railways as a junior engineer in 2000, as per officials.

A release from the Central Railway condoled Mone’s death.

“While the state government and the Ministry of Home Affairs are arranging relief, our team is also trying to contact his family to provide the necessary support,” it said. PTI KK COR GK