Sajid Sheikh, a 35-year-old NRI banker, died in Sydney on September 16, 2009, reportedly in a train accident. But his father, who stays in Juhapura area of Ahmedabad, is not convinced. He believes his son was killed either in a racist attack or was murdered by the Sydney police in a fake encounter. He has demanded a clarification from the Australian government, especially about why he was informed about his son’s death 10 days after he died.
“The Sydney police could have contacted me easily as they had Sajid’s wallet in their possession,” the victim’s father, DK Sheikh, told DNA. “The wallet contained my contact details with which the police could have easily got in touch with me. Instead, they contacted the Interpol. This is nothing but lack of responsibility on the part of Sydney police.”
Sheikh, who is 73 now, retired as a senior official of the Gujarat government. He and his family in Juhapura were informed about his son’s death by the CID in Gandhinagar, who were told about the youth’s death by the Delhi office of Interpol. Sajid’s body was handed over to his parents on September 30, 2009, and buried the same day.
The report of the Sydney police who investigated the incident mentions ‘train accident’ as the cause of death. “The police report says the accident was recorded by a CCTV camera at the railway station,” said Sheikh. “If this is true, why have they refused to give us a copy of the recording?”
Sheikh said he wanted a convincing explanation from the Sydney police about how his son had died. Sajid, a brilliant student, had gone to Australia for higher studies several years back. After acquiring an MBA degree from an Australian college, he got a job with the ANZ Bank. He was granted Australian citizenship in June this year. Earlier, when he was still in India, he had passed the Civil Services written examination and had been called for interview. However, he was unable to clear the interview of the UPSC examination.
Sajid was unmarried and still working as an executive at the ANZ Bank in Sydney when he died under mysterious circumstances. He is survived by his aged parents and four sisters.
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