Family not keen to claim body of Keralite who died in Pak jail

Thiruvananthapuram: The family of 48-year-old Zulfikar, who died in a jail in Pakistan, is not keen to claim the mortal remains, leaving the Palakkad administration in a fix.

Zulfikar, according to the locals near his house at Kappur in Palakkad, was last seen in his home town in 2018 and he along with his family were settled in the UAE.

However, in 2019, his wife and children returned to their home after allegations surfaced that he was a supporter of the banned IS.

Since then, according to the locals, his wife and children never had any relation with Zulfikar. When the news came that the authorities will take custody of the body at the India-Punjab border and then transport it to his hometown, the family declined to take the body.

This has left the Palakkad administration in a quandary, and is likely to conduct the last rites of Zulfikar’s body.

He was caught by the Pakistani authorities after he strayed into the Pakistan border a few years ago.