Dream of becoming a doctor ends in Bangladesh pond: Sopore bids farewell to MBBS student Adnan Altaf amid demands for full probe

The body of Adnan Altaf Rather, a 26-year-old MBBS student from Dangerpora in Sopore, was recovered from a pond in Bangladesh, shattering the dreams of a family that had pinned its hopes on his becoming a doctor.

Adnan, son of Mohammad Altaf Rather, he was in the final semester of his medical course at Eastern Medical College in Cumilla. He had returned to Bangladesh about 15 days earlier with his mother Nighat, to appear for exams. On the night of November 2, he left the college campus around 11 pm and never returned. His body was found on the morning of November 4 floating in a pond in Monipur village, Burichang Upazila, barely 500 yards from the campus.

Thousands gathered in Dangerpora

As Adnan was laid to rest after Namaz-e-Janaza. His mortal remains had arrived in Delhi from Bangladesh on Monday, reached Srinagar Airport on Tuesday morning, and were taken to his native village.

Thanking the whole administration from Jammu and Kashmir to the Prime Minister and the Ministry of External Affairs, the shattered family demanded a thorough and transparent probe into the circumstances of Adnan’s death, saying they smell foul play.

A relative of Abdul Aziz, said, "This grief belongs to the entirety of Sopore. This entire mourning does not just belong to our Fruit Association; every single individual in Sopore shares this grief. But we are thankful to the current administration for putting in the effort to bring the body back here from Bangladesh. We are thankful to the Honourable Lieutenant Governor who worked on this from day one, and as a result, the body reached here yesterday.

However, we now have only one request to the Government of India: we want to know what happened to that little one whom we had sent to Bangladesh to become a doctor. He did not become a doctor, but his dead body reached us from there. Such a tragedy has struck the people of Sopore, but our only request now to our government and to the foreign embassy, our request to the Honourable Lieutenant Governor, is that you convey this heartbroken voice of Sopore to the Honourable Prime Minister and the Honourable Home Minister. We must find out how our little soul, who went to Bangladesh to become a doctor, returned as a dead man. Was he killed there, and how? We need to know this. That is our only regret."

The family has expressed gratitude to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian High Commission for facilitating the return of the body after days of uncertainty and diplomatic efforts.

A young life-cut-o,ff man who was just to complete his medical degree has left Sopore in mourning, with the family still seeking answers.

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