Friends of Zulfiqar Khan, missing in Kenya, appeal to PM Modi to intervene

New Delhi: The missing Zulfiqar Khan's friends remain worried as they are yet to get any further information from either Nairobi or New Delhi officials whereabouts of the missing Indians in Nairobi. They humbly appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and ask the authorities to investigate speedily.

Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan's friends call him Zulfi, an alumnus of Hansraj College New Delhi and St John's School Nainital. He is 48 years old and has an illustrious media career.

Zulfi last worked as the COO of Balaji Telefilms. Before that, he was also the Managing Director of the OTT platform HOOQ and the Business Head and Chief Revenue Officer of Eros Now.

Zulfi started his media career as a Trainee with Star India and became the Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales. He managed several channels like Star Plus, Star Gold, Star Sports, National Geographic, Chanel V etc.

Dozens of friends, colleagues and well-wishers who posted their concerns on social media appeal to both governments to help locate the missing persons.

Newsdrum.in is yet to receive any official response; however, some sources within MEA said that High Commission in Nairobi is following the issue. Yet, details in the case will take time to emerge.

Friends of Zulfi say that his trip to Kenya was to explore and experience a new country. They said, "We enjoyed watching his social media posts of breath-taking Masai Mara and all the amazing food he was partaking of."

In his 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.

Friends say that, But after July 21, there was complete silence. "No Facebook or Instagram updates, no phone calls, and what worried all his friends the most – our WhatsApp weren't showing as received."

Zulfi had spoken to some of his friends just days earlier, talked about wildlife at length, and advised them to visit this place. "And then Zulfi just disappeared. Without a trace. No contact with family or friends."

Friends of Zulfi also said that "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."

"There are scattershot reports in the Kenyan media where they picked up the wrong LinkedIn profile of another Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan and called our Zulfi a "cyber security expert." Which would be funny if it weren't scary, "the friends of Zulfi said in a press note to the media claiming "most of the information on him in their media is completely baseless and without any proper research."

The press note further said, "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."

The press note added, "with this note; we want to make people aware of who Zulfi is, question his disappearance, and plead with our Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to intervene and ask the concerned Government of Kenya to start a search operation to get our Zulfi back home safe."

A preliminary report revealed that the three men were last seen when they visited a nightclub in Westlands, Nairobi, on July 23.

According to investigators, the two and their driver were caught on camera having drinks at the popular joint. They left the venue at around 11.53 pm. Three hours later, police in Langata were informed of an abandoned grey Toyota Fielder near Ole Sereni Hotel along Mombasa Road. When the police arrived, they found the car's engine still running, but no one was in the car.

In politically wobbly Kenya, extra-judicial killings and kidnappings are frequent. Previous governments with state agencies were often accused of being hand in glove with such incidents.