Mumbai:
Seven months after he died due
to "cardiac arrest", the body of a man was exhumed from a Mumbai
graveyard Saturday for an autopsy to probe his suspected murder -
thanks to the intervention of the Prime Minister's Office.
Though
Abdul Sattar's wife Salma had told his family members that he died
of a possible cardiac arrest on June 22 last year, their 11-year
daughter Qayenat alleged her mother and her paramour had killed him.
"We knocked
all doors - the Thane police, Maharashtra government and even the
Prime Minister's Office in our quest for justice. Finally, the PMO
responded to our plea and in a letter dated Sep 18, 2009, directed
the state chief secretary to have the matter investigated," Sattar's
brother Abdul Qadir told IANS.
The order
to exhume Sattar's body was given by a Thane court last week, he
said.
Sattar, 49,
who worked in Dubai as the manager in a supermarket, had come to
India for six months in December 2008 and was living in Mumbra, a
suburb of Thane.
On June 22
last year, a weeping Salma called up Qadir and other family members
and told them Sattar had died, possibly due to cardiac arrest.
Though
Sattar enjoyed good health, the family did not suspect anything and
brought the body to Mumbai where it was buried in the Chandanwadi
Muslim cemetery.
The
following day, during a post-death prayer meeting, Qayenat stunned
the large gathering of mourners by claiming that her father was
murdered by Salma.
Taken aback
by the girl's allegation, the family asked her to come out with the
entire truth behind her father's death and she revealed that her
mother was very friendly with Akbar Chaudhary, who lived in the
nearby Accord Apartments in Thane.
"She said
that three days before his death, Chaudhary had come to their home
and had a bitter fight with her father," said Qadir's lawyer, Syed
Raavi Abbas.
Chaudhary
demanded that Sattar should divorce Salma as he wanted to marry her.
When he refused, Chaudhary assaulted Sattar, he added.
Sattar's
family members now also suspect that Salma could have fed him
something which may have hastened his death.
Apprehensive for the safety of Qayenat - the sole eyewitness in the
case - Qadir took her to his home in Mumbai. Salma also reached
there and demanded Qayenat be given to her but the family refused.
Sattar's
uncle, Mohammed Iqbal said that within hours of her husband's death,
Salma had siphoned off all her husband's money, jewellery and other
assets.
"We decided
to get at the truth behind my brother's mysterious death since he
was always hale and hearty. Finally, we now hope that justice may be
done," Qadir said.
Abbas
said that the exhumed body will be sent for an autopsy to the Sir
J.J. Hospital. Based on the autopsy report, police will take further
steps.
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