Hyderabad: Senior scribe ‘Jabbar saab’ no more
“Jabbar Saab”, as he was fondly called by his fellow scribes, was the senior most crime reporter in Siasat Urdu daily
Hyderabad: A Jabbar Siddique worked for over three decades in Siasat Urdu daily, passed away at his home on Sunday night. He was 78 and survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.
“Jabbar Saab”, as he was fondly called by his fellow scribes, was the senior most crime reporter, who was known to have maintained excellent contacts in the police department right from constable to the Chief of police level. He was also known for his penchant to guide the beat reporters by sharing information, a quality for which ‘Jabbar Saab’ is remembered ever after his retirement from Siasat long time ago.
At a time when there were no cell phones and social media tools like WhatsApp which ensure quick dissemination of information, Jabbar Saab was the sole person in the journalistic circles to have the information ready. Be it a development in far off places like Srikakulam or an incident in Dabeerpura, he somehow managed to get information quickly. Another quality, fellow journalist fondly recall, is his everlasting smile and his willingness to share information, which probably could have saved the lives of a few journalists working in other media organisations.
Even for the police officers, he was the only ‘go-to’ source to confirm pieces of information, especially in times of communal conflagrations that plagued the capital city of Hyderabad. It was not uncommon for police officers on the field, especially those working in Special Branch or Intelligence, to call up ‘Jabbar Saab’ to ‘unofficially’ confirm incidents.
