A month later, Kashmiri student remains traceless

Nishwan Rasool:
Hawal resident Syed Zuhaib Rizvi, a final year MBBS student in Jammu, has been missing for over a month. Initially, Rizvi, a student of Acharya Shri Chandra Medical College, was reported to have committed suicide by jumping into the Mansar lake on May 14. Skilled army divers were unable to locate the body for days. This, says his uncle Syed Afzal Rizwi, fails to support the suicide theory that was originally stated by police in Jammu.

In May, after a six-day search, the authorities recovered Rizvi’s wallet, papers, cards and some cash on the banks of the lake. But the mobile phone which he was carrying with him has still not been traced, said his uncle. He probes: “I am not able to understand if he has put all his belongings near the lake, why is still his mobile phone missing?”

Rizvi’s mother and sister are puzzled by his sudden disappearance. They are still hoping that the doorbell will ring, and Rizvi would return home with a smile on his face and look that says, “I am back”.

Meanwhile, Rizvi’s college friends plainly stated that there was nothing unusual in his behaviour on the day he disappeared. On the contrary, they add that he was said to have been quite content with his performance in the exams. In fact, his friend stated that he fared well in his viva-examination.

Rizvi lost his father in a tragic road accident in year 1999, but did not sound disturbed at all when he spoke to his family over the phone a day earlier, recalls his uncle.

Rizvi was living in a hostel in Jammu for the last five years. This was his final year and he would have received his MBBS degree. He would have also fulfilled his parents’ dream but this was not to be.

“My son used to offer prayers five times a day. He wouldn’t smoke, and neither did he have any bad habits. He knew that Islam prohibits suicide. Ours is a well-educated family and there was no dispute of money or property,” says uncle Afzal, ruling out reasons for Rizvi’s disappearance.

“If he has committed suicide or has been killed, where is his body?” he asks.

Afzal recalls, how during the course of the search operation at the lake, a police official threw a two rupee coin into lake. It was recovered by underwater divers the following day. “When they can find a coin, why can’t they find a body that weighs 75-80 kg and is 6 feet in height?”

“He is an intelligent and a courageous boy. We are sure there is someone behind hisdisappearence,” adds he. He said the family will appeal to the chief minister, DG police and other concerned authorities to find his nephew.

Afzal further state that the family was satisfied with the work put in by the Jammu police and the Army officials at Mansar lake.