NEW DELHI: Two Indians, including a businessman from Mumbai, were killed in a New Year’s Eve terror strike at a night club in Istanbul, Turkey, which claimed 39 lives and left more than 69 injured. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made the announcement hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack.
“I have a bad news from Turkey. We have lost two Indian nationals in the Istanbul attack. Rahul Kulshreshth, Indian ambassador in Turkey, is on his way to Istanbul. The victims are Abis Rizvi, son of a former Rajya Sabha MP, and Khushi Shah from Gujarat. I have asked Mr. Kulshreshth to receive the families at the airport and make all arrangements,” Ms. Swaraj said in her social media messages.
Forty-nine-year-old Abis’s father Akhtar Rizvi was an independent Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh and in 2001, had joined the Nationalist Congress Party. Abis was also a businessman with Rizvi Builders. The group had recently ventured into entertainment industry with its movie Roar . Abis is survived by his son and wife. The incident comes as a shock to the Rizvi family as in 2010 it had lost Abis’s younger brother Saquib to cancer. According to family members, Abis was on a vacation to celebrate the new year. “His father has gone to Turkey after learning the news, from where more details are awaited,” said a family member.
Rizvi Builders is one of the top real estate companies with over 200 commercial and residential projects in Mumbai and Goa. The Rizvi Education Society, established in 1982, has two colleges in Mumbai, and campuses in Allahabad and Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Ms. Swaraj also announced that the authorities have arranged for Turkish visas for the relatives of Ms. Shah, the other victim.
This is the second incident of Indian casualties in international terror attacks. An Indian IT engineer died in the serial terror strike in Brussels on March 22, which also left a Jet Airways employee badly injured. Apart from the July 16 coup attempt, Turkey witnessed a number of terror strikes in 2016. However, despite emerging security scenario, Turkey remains one of the important transit points for Indian travellers.
