Hyderabad man shot at in New Zealand, another missing

Hyderabad: A man from Hyderabad was critically injured and another was missing in the horrific massacre at one of the two mosques in New Zealand’s Christchurch city on Friday.

Ahmed Iqbal Jehangir, who was at Al Noor Mosque for Friday prayers, was injured and taken to hospital, his brother Mohammed Khursheed Jehangir told IANS in Hyderabad.

“My brother was shot in his chest. A video I received shows him lying on stretcher,” Khursheed said.

Ahmed, settled in New Zealand for 15 years, runs a Hyderabadi food restaurant near Al Noor Mosque. His family members were safe.

An anxious Khursheed was waiting for more information from New Zealand. He wants to rush to New Zealand to be with his brother and appealed to the Indian government for help.

Another man from Hyderabad was also reported missing. Farhaj Ahsan, had gone to the same mosque for prayers and was listed missing after the attack by gunmen.

His father Mohammed Sayeeduddin and other family members were worried over Farhaj’s well-being and were waiting for information.

Farhaj, a software engineer, used to regularly offer Friday prayers at Al Noor mosque as he lives in a nearby neighbourhood with his wife and two children.

Like every day, Sayeeduddin rang up his son, unaware of what was going on at the mosque. “We speak to him over phone every day around afternoon and today being Friday I rang him around 8 a.m. but he did not respond,” he told IANS.

He then called his daughter-in-law, who informed him that there was an attack at the mosque and she also tried to reach Farhaj over his mobile phone.

She later went to hospital with a picture of her husband and after a long wait, the authorities told her that he is among 19 people missing.

“We are worried about his well-being and waiting for some information from there,” said Sayeeduddin, who lives in Nadeem Colony here.

Farhaj had gone to New Zealand 15 years ago and did his MS from Auckland University. He worked for various companies and had recently completely a project for a firm in Christchurch.

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted to Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, urging her to provide immediate assistance to the two families to facilitate their travel to New Zealand.

IANS