SYED ALI SAFVI
SRINAGAR, June 15: Numbed by grief, Sofia is sitting in her room, leaning back against the wall, her puffed-up eyes gazing unblinkingly at the door, longing to see her son again. Every time her mobile phone buzzes, she quickly grabs her cell, hoping it is her son calling, but the voice at other end dashes her hopes and leaves her devastated.
Sofia religiously called up her son everyday; however, the last she heard from him was about four weeks ago.
Sofia’s son, Syed Zuhaib Rizvi, was a final year MBBS student at Acharya Shri Chandra College of Medical Sciences and Hospital (ASCOMS) Jammu, who went missing from Mansar lake under mysterious circumstances on May 14.
Initially, police claimed that the boy had jumped into Mansar lake.
“My son can not commit suicide,” she said with tears rolling down her cheeks. “He was hydrophobic and would not have dared to jump into water.”
After her engineer husband, Syed Nisar Rizvi, died in a road mishap at Sopore in 1999, Sofia endured great hardships to bring up her two children.
After Zuhaib was selected for MBBS at ASCOMS Jammu, Sofia had developed a habit of marking the date on the calendar whenever her son would come home.
“The last time he came home was on March 6, 2010 on his father’s death anniversary,” she said.
Even 31 days after the police claimed that the 27-year-old medical student had jumped into Mansar lake as his wallet was found by the lakeside, Zuhaib’s body was still untraceable.
“Being a medical student, he knew easier ways to end life. There was no need to travel 85 kilometers and jump into Mansar lake,” said Aafaq Showkat, Zuhaib’s cousin.
Suspecting foul play into the incident, Aafaq said that Zuhaib had apparently no reason to take the drastic step.
Aafaq said that on the fateful day Zuhaib had gone to the college clerk with the examination form of MBBS final semester.
“Only a few days ago, he had had his head shaved. The clerk suggested him to paste a recent photograph on the form so that there is no identification problem,” he said. “Earlier in the day, he had also met the college principal.”
According to Zuhaib’s uncle, Syed Shabeer Hussain, after reaching the Jammu city Bus stand, Zuhaib had asked a local tour operator for a bus to Mansar.
“The tour operator told us that he had suggested Zuhaib to hire a cab to Mansar,” Shabeer said. “Driver of the cab told us that Zuhaib repeatedly told him to drive fast as his friends were waiting for him at Mansar.”
Shabeer said it was a mystery who were the friends waiting for Zuhaib.
Disgruntled by the chief minister’s “cold shouldered” response to Sofia’s letter, Aafaq said that the chief minister had not shown keen interest in the case.
“CM referred the case to SP Jammu when the investigation was being conducted at DIG- level,” he said. “On the other hand, Jammu police has been very cooperative. They have shown keen interest in the case.”
Sofia had written a letter to the chief minister to take personal interest in the case and direct the concerned authorities to intensify the investigation.
“I have every reason to believe that my son is still alive and is out of sight for reasons other than drowning in Mansar lake,” the letter read.
Initially, the police claimed that Zuhaib had jumped into the Mansar river, but relentless searches in the lake by army divers failed to throw up any evidence to support the claim of police.
“The Army divers told us that they were cent percent sure the body is not in the lake,” Shabeer said. “If the authorities are of the opinion that Zuhaib has committed suicide, where is his body?”
Shabeer said that he had stayed at Mansar for over two after the incident.
“We were told by the locals that normally bodies of those who jump into Mansar lake appear upon the surface in 8 to 20 days,” he said. “But even after 30 days the body is still untraceable.”
Pertinently, nobody saw Zuhaib jump into the Mansar lake, which is often thronged with tourists. Zuhaib’s maternal and paternal uncles are still at Mansar.
Raising questions about the negligence on part of the college administration, Aafaq said that Zuhaib’s hostel room was seized after seven days.
“The room should have been seized the day he went missing,” he said.
Pertinently, the seriousness of Samba police, which is investigating the case, can be gauged from the fact that even after 30 days they have failed to look beyond Mansar lake.
When contacted, SSP Samba, Ragvir Singh, refused to talk about the case.
ADC Samba, Anil Gupta, told Kashmir Times that the police had not given any report in this connection.
“The police have not given any concrete reply. We are unable to draw final conclusion,” he said. “I don’t think he has jumped into Mansar lake.”
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