Hyderabad: Just two days after Pandit Vithal Rao arrived by train in the city and collapsed, unrecognised, under a flyover in Begumpet, a happy story played itself out on the other side of the city.
Mr Lateefuddin Siddiqui, 71, a victim of memory loss, was found at Mehdipatnam on the afternoon of June 26 by engineering student Syed Azeem Hashmi.
Mr Siddiqui could not remember his way home. Mr Hashmi said, “I found him walking up and down the stretch of our lane in Mehdipatnam for over two hours. I thought something was wrong and went to him.”
Mr Siddiqui told him that he was a graduate from Osmania University and his son’s name was Jamal Uddin Siddiqui. “Beyond that he could not remember anything. I gave him my phone, hoping he would remember some numbers and make a call, but he was unwilling,” explained Mr Hashmi.
Finally, he went to the Asifnagar police station and requested the police to help find his son. Mr Hashmi says, “I had taken his photograph at the police station on my mobile phone. So I put down his details and circulated it on WhatsApp and Facebook hoping that it would reach his relatives.”
Saturday afternoon, Mr Hashmi went back to the police station and the cops told him that he had been handed over to the family. And in the evening Mr Siddiqui’s family members called and thanked him.
Mr Jamal, his son said, “My father had stepped out for prayers. We live in Moradnagar, which is close to Asifnagar. He is familiar with these surroundings and never goes beyond the masjid. But on that day, he moved out of the area and reached Mehdipatnam. This is a lesson for us, as all this while we never thought he would lose his way and not come back. The young boy has been of immense help, had he not left him in the police station it would have been difficult to trace him.”
The family had waited for two hours before going to the police station to lodge a complaint. They were in for a surprise when they found Mr Siddiqui sitting there.
The Asifnagar police didn’t let him go despite Mr Lateef getting restless. By evening, Mr Siddiqui’s family members were calling and most of the neighbourhood had come home to check if he was found as the Fb and WhatsApp message had gone viral by then.
