Body of photojournalist, missing for days, found in Srinagar

For newsmen in Kashmir, Thursday was especially distressing. The body of  senior  photojournalist Shafat Sidiq was recovered from beneath an overturned autorickshaw in Batamaloo and two cameras were hanging around his neck.

Shafat’s colleagues told The Indian Express that while shooting the rising waters from a flyover he slipped and drowned. The mishap in early hours of the flood had been seen by the police, but Shafat’s family or colleagues didn’t know about it. “The police men who saw him drowning had thought he was someone else. Shafat had been missing, but nobody suspected him dead. We thought he may be stuck somewhere like lots of other people. We thought the break down of all communication has made his family anxious about him and he will return soon,” said his colleague.

Shafat’s body has already been handed over to his family. Tragically, his colleagues here couldn’t even know whether he has been buried or not. “There is no way to even mourn a colleague’s tragic death while doing his job,’’a co-worker said.  Shafat was working with Dainik Jagran and SIPA press.

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In his late 30’s, Shafat was married and had children.

The body of another man was also recovered from Batmaloo neighbourhood on Friday. He had died while rescuing migrant labourers from a house in the neighbourhood on Monday. He had rescued the migrant labourers, but the house collapsed before he could escape.