New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS): Friends of media executive Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan, who went missing in Kenya 80 days ago, have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure his safe return.
The 48-year-old Khan, or Zulfi as they call him, as one would call him, is an alumnus of St Joseph's School, Nainital, and Hansraj College, New Delhi. Having an illustrious media career - he last worked as the COO of Balaji Telefilms, and before that was Managing Director of the OTT platform HOOQ and the Business Head and Chief Revenue Officer of Eros Now.
"Zulfi has been a keen sportsman, a foodie, an avid traveller, climber and explorer. His passion for cricket is well known to us all - every run, every ball, every pitch is discussed threadbare by Zulfi with friends willing to listen!" a friend recalled.
His trip to Kenya was yet again the explorer in Zulfi wanting to experience a new country, the friend said, adding that his friends enjoyed watching his social media posts of breath-taking Masai Mara and all the amazing food he was partaking of.
In telephone conversations with friends, he said he was returning on July 24 but planned to be back towards the year end to witness the 'Great Migration' across the Mara River.
But, after July 21, there was complete silence. No Facebook or Instagram updates, no phone calls, and what worried all his friends the most - WhatsApp messages weren't showing as received. He had spoken to some of his friends just days earlier and talked about wildlife at length and advised them to visit this "lovely" place. And then Zulfi just disappeared, said his friends.
"It's been more than 80 days now and yet no one has any idea about his whereabouts. Local Police in Kenya are clueless. They have been asked by the High Court of the land to produce Zulfi but they have no idea where he is.
"We don't know if there is a serious search operation to find him. We don't know if the Indian Government has demanded an explanation from the Kenyan Government about their missing citizen. We don't even know if our own High Commission in Kenya is helping in any way. With this note, we want to make people aware about who Zulfi really is, question his disappearance, and plead with our Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and ask the concerned Government of Kenya to start a search operation to get him back," said his friends.