Srinagar, Nov 21: Azad Ahmad Zargar, a man in 40s, who was working as a Ward Officer in Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), died under mysterious circumstances just two days before Eid ul Azha. Weeks on, police is clueless while the family fears he was murdered.

THE FATEFUL DAY
 On November 5, Zargar, a resident of Bota Kadal, as per his family, as usual left for Fajr prayers at a nearby Masjid.  “He returned home with bread for breakfast, but soon left gain for a morning walk in the neighbourhood of Makhdoom Sahib (RA) shrine,” the family said.
 They said  he took Rs 30,000 along to buy sacrificial animal for the Eid. But the fate had something else to offer.
 Zargar didn’t return till afternoon making his family worried.  “At around 1:30 PM, some people in the neighbourhood were chatting with each other that police has found a body in the backyard of Badamwari. On hearing this conversation, we rushed to the Police Station and came to know it was he (Zargar),” said Muhammad Siddique, deceased’s elder brother.
  “We first saw the photograph police had clicked with a mobile phone and it showed a string tied to Azad’s neck,” he added.

THE TRAGEDY
 As for Zargar’s family, tragedy struck them ahead of the festival when his children comprising of two daughters and a son of 20, 18 and 14 years respectively, were preparing for the celebrations. But the children who were waiting for father to get home a Qurbani goat saw his dead body coming in.
 His wife, a housewife says: “He was a loving and caring husband and best father. He used to take care of everything and never afforded to see us in any kind of difficulty. He used to solve every problem at its earliest.”
 “My children are too young to fight this case as to what happened to their father… I appeal the government to probe the matter thoroughly and bring the culprits to justice,” she said as tears trickled down her eyes.
 “I love my father more than myself. He was such a loving father every child would wish to have. I can’t live without him. I want him back,” Zargar’s daughter flanked by her other siblings cried.

POLICE SPEAKS
 When contacted Police Station Rainawari, said it has registered an FIR and investigations are on.
  “We have filed FIR Vide number 174 CRPC/ 2011 but it’s ‘under section’ can’t be decided till the nature of the death is confirmed. We are thoroughly investigating into this matter,” Raja Tasleem, Station House Officer (SHO), Rainawari told Greater Kashmir.
 Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP), Tahir Salim Khan echoed similar views. “We are properly investigating into this matter and we won’t give up till we resolve this case and bring culprits, if any to the justice,” Salim said.

BOTTOMLINE
 Zargar is no more, but for his numb-hearted wife, the world around has become a “perpetual hell”. The family lost its happiness and are yet to reconcile with the situation. And their shock is that they are yet to know what happened to their father on way to buy sacrificial goat because his death remains a mystery!

Lastupdate on : Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 IST