A social media post regarding the "mysterious" death of a 27-year-old from Telangana working in Saudi Arabia, fuelled confusion among the family members. Earlier, it was claimed that Mohammed Shezad Khan, 27, died in Saudi Arabia last week after getting lost in the desert. The online post contended that Khan and his colleague who belonged to Sudan, died from dehydration and exhaustion.
According to the social media post, their bodies were found on prayer mats next to their vehicle, which had run out of fuel in the desert. Notably, the post claimed they were on a tour of the Empty Quarter which spread over 650,000 sq km. The post got a further boost after multiple media outlets quoted the same social media post for reporting.
However, his family has now denied such claims and said such information doing the rounds is "false". According to a report by The Indian Express, a family member said Saudi authorities denied such reports. However, the death remains shrouded in mystery.
Fake information on social media post: Family
"All this information posted online is false and fake. No such information has been given to us by Saudi authorities. The reason for his death is unknown as of now," The Indian Express quoted Mohammed Basheeruddin Fazal, Khan's brother-in-law as saying.
Further, Fazal asserted that the Saudi government contacted the family members and sought their permission to conduct a post-mortem. He also dismissed the social media post that claimed Khan worked with a telecom company. In fact, he clarified that the deceased was associated with a construction company.
Deceased did not work for telecom company as claimed
"The cause of death is unknown as per Saudi authorities, and they asked us not to believe what was posted online. Shezad worked with a construction company as a surveyor engineer. He never worked for any telecom company (as claimed in the posts). Shezad had been working in Saudi for the last six years. He had come to Karimnagar a year ago and was expected to return soon," he said.
"His wife, two young children and mother live in Karimnagar. Shezad was born in Karimnagar but brought up in Chhattisgarh, where his father had shifted decades ago. After marriage, he shifted back to Karimnagar seven years ago," Fazal added.
