Javed’s father demands the truth

Had my health permitted, I would have been in Ahmedabad by now, said Pillai, who is a chronic diabetic and underwent a bypass surgery a couple of years ago. ‘‘I cannot bear the sight of my son’s body riddled with bullets. I saw it on Doordarshan today. It was really horrible.’’

‘‘If his wife claims the body, it will be given to her. Even if it is brought here, the last rites would be performed as per the Islamic traditions,’’ he said.

Pillai said his son did not have any financial problem. ‘‘He started his career as power cable repairer in Pune and then went to Gulf and was earning Rs 1 lakh per month. His family was there with him. But he returned to Pune and opened textile and perfume shops which he disposed of in December. Then he undertook cable work which fetched him good money,’’ he said.

The car in which the four had travelled is owned by him, but it is registered in his friend’s name, Pillai said. He used to visit Javed in Pune and had not noticed anything unusual in the family. Born in a conservative upper middle class Nair family, he had embraced Islam to marry the girl he had liked. ‘‘Such a person is unlikely to become a communal extremist,’’ Pillai said, adding ‘‘What has gone wrong, I don’t know. Maybe, he has been cheated by his friends.’’