Those were film producer Abis Rizvi’s last words to his mother, reveals relative; body flown in from Turkey and laid to rest in Mazgaon cemetery
Abis Rizvi’s father, Akhtar Rizvi, after the body was brought home
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A charged-up Abis Rizvi, raring to take the New Year by the horns, was to return to the city on Tuesday. Cruel fate had other plans. The body of film producer and CEO of Rizvi Group of Companies, who was killed in the Istanbul nightclub massacre on New Year’s, arrived home yesterday.
Abis Rizvi’s body was flown into the city last morning. Pics/Sayed Sameer Abedi and Bipin Kokate
Abis’ body, along with that of Vadodara-based fashion designer Khushi Shah (27), was flown into the city from Istanbul, Turkey, last morning. While Abis’ mortal remains were taken to his Bandra West-based bungalow, Meena Mahal, Khushi was flown to Vadodara for the last rites, he said.
Relatives and family members outside Meena Mahal last morning
Relatives, friends and colleagues, including celebrities such as Arshad Warsi, Raveena Tandon, Puneet Issar, Madhur Bhandarkar and Ali Mirza, and politicians, began visiting Meena Mahal to pay homage early in the morning. The crowd numbered in thousands as the burial neared.
Film producers Alvira Khan Agnihotri and Kamal Sadanah at Abis Rizvi’s residence in Bandra West
Abis’ body was taken to the Rahmatabad Kabristan in Mazgaon at 11.30 am. After the last rites were performed and the majlis (sermon) given, he was buried next to the grave of his brother, Saquib Rizvi, around 4.15 pm in the presence of loved ones.
Khushi Shah’s brother and uncle at her home in Vadodara. Pic/Nirav Trivedi
Multiple bullet injuries
A relative revealed that the realtor had sustained five bullet injuries in the attack. “One bullet pierced his stomach, and another hit his face. He also had bullet injuries on his hands and legs. The news of the death plunged both his father, Dr [Akhtar Hassan] Rizvi, and mother Meena Rizvi into grief. Abis had told his mother that he would call her after December 31. She waited for that call.”
Another relative said Abis had left for Turkey on December 30, with plans to return on January 3. “On the day of the attack, he had left his business phone behind in the hotel room.”
Khushi’s final rites
Meanwhile, Khushi’s body was cremated at the Khaswadi crematorium in Karelibag, Vadodara. Her elder brother, Akshay, lit the funeral pyre in the presence of a large number of relatives and other mourners. Nishant Ramani, the business partner of Shah’s father Ashwin, said that a prayer meeting will be held in Vadodara tomorrow. Khushi ran a boutique on the Juhu-Tara Road in Mumbai.
Thirty-nine people were shot dead in Turkey’s Reina nightclub. Citizens of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Morocco, Libya, Israel, Canada, a Turkish-Belgian dual citizen and a Franco-Tunisian woman were among those killed.
With inputs from Agencies
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