: “Heads down” were the last two words uttered by slain National Investigation Agency (NIA) officer Mohammad Tanzil Ahmed, proving instrumental in saving the lives of his two children.
Family members on Monday recalled how the presence of mind displayed by an injured Mr. Ahmed managed to save the lives of his daughter Zimnish and son Shahbaz, who were in the same car in which their parents were attacked.
The incident, in which the couple were shot by unidentified assailants, left Mr. Ahmed dead, while his wife Farzana continues to battle for life.
“The children told us how their father was quick to react after he sustained the first bullet and turned towards them with the instruction to duck and place themselves between the front and the passenger seats,” said Mr. Ahmed’s sister-in-law Rukhsana, who with her husband Raghib and children, were in another car tailing that of Mr. Ahmed’s.
Raghib, the elder brother of Mr. Ahmed, as well as Zimnish and Shahbaz were taken to the NIA office by a team to reconstruct the sequence of events in the early hours of Sunday.
The family had gone to attend the wedding of a niece in Seohara in Bijnore, 10 kilometres away from their ancestral home in Sahaspur.
It was while returning from Seohara to Sahaspur after attending the wedding that the incident happened.
Suspicious men
Rukhsana said that they had come across two suspicious-looking men at the wedding.
“In hindsight, we think so. After reaching the venue we wanted to confirm if we were at the right place when we came across two men and asked about the host, to which they replied it was Iqbal Singh.
Since our host was Mohammad Iqbal, my husband grew suspicious and questioned if they were sure and they hurriedly changed their answer to Iqbal Ali, which again was not the right name,” said Rukhsana.
She added that even on their way to Seohara, Ahmed’s son had pointed it out to his father how two bikers, dressed in black jackets and white shirts, had been following them all through. The family, however, got involved in the wedding celebrations and did think much about these observations.
“The first shot, which was fired by the pillion rider, hit Ahmed on the chest. He lost control of the vehicle, and it got dragged sideways to the edge of the road.
The biker then got down and pumped several more bullets into Ahmed and Farzana,” said Rukhsana.
She also alleged that NIA had failed to provide adequate security to Ahmed despite being well aware of the risks he faced due to his job.
Farzana
BSF DG K.K. Sharma visited Fortis Hospital in Noida where Farzana is being treated.
After coming out he said that doctors told him that the chances of her survival were “fifty-fifty.”
“She was sedated when I visited. Doctors said that if she remained stable for the next 48 hours, she could survive,” said Mr. Sharma.