HYDERABAD: At least one person from the city has been confirmed injured and another missing in the horrific shootout perpetrated by a white supremacist inside two mosques in New Zealand’s Christchurch on Friday. Unconfirmed reports claimed that the number of injured from the city might be more.
Amberpet resident Ahmed Iqbal Jehangir (35) was shot in the chest, confirmed his brother Khursheed Jehangir to Express. The other victim, Farhaz Ahsan, a resident of Tolichowki, who was also present in the mosque in the morning has been missing since the attack.
Speaking to Express, Jehangir’s elder brother Khursheed said the attack happened when Jehangir had gone to the mosque to offer Friday prayers at 8 a.m. In the attack, two of his brother’s friends living in New Zealand died and Jehangir’s family in Hyderabad were informed of the matter by their neighbours.
“He has been in New Zealand for the last 15 years. He was doing jobs in private companies, until six months ago, when he opened a Hyderabadi cuisine restaurant,” Khursheed added.
The family of the other victim, software engineer Farhaz Ahsan, are yet to receive confirmation about his whereabouts. Speaking to newsmen, Ahsan’s 68-year-old father Mohammed Sayeeduddin, a former government employee, who moved to the city from Warangal, said: “Only yesterday I spoke to my son. When I called him, his phone was unresponsive. Then I came to know that there has been shooting in the mosque where he went to pray.”
Meanwhile, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi appealed to the State government and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and said, “A video from #ChristChurch shows one Ahmed Jehangir who was shot. His brother Iqbal Jehangir is a resident of Hyderabad & would like to go to NZ for Ahmed’s family. I request @KTRTRS @TelanganaCMO @MEAIndia @SushmaSwaraj to make arrangements for the Khursheed family”
Owaisi later said Swaraj had updated him. “ I’d like to thank @SushmaSwaraj for personally updating me about MEA’s efforts in assisting Ahmed’s & Ahsan’s families reach NZ in time. We are in touch with @MEAIndiaMEA & they have assured us that they are making all efforts to get the visa process expedited,” he said. TRS working president K T Rama Rao also responded and assured help.