He was looking for a job with more stability, says friend

EVERY NIGHT after his shift with a cab aggregator ended around 1 am, Shakib would head home to Zakir Nagar to have a quiet family dinner with his wife. On Sunday night too, he told his wife, Zoya, then he would be back soon.

Hours later, the 36-year-old cab driver was dead — he was stabbed and shot during an alleged road rage incident at Red Fort. His father, Mohd Shahid Khan, told The Indian Express that Shakib got married a little more than a year ago and is survived by a six-month-old child and his wife.

“We live in a joint family at Zakir Nagar... and a major chunk of the family’s income came from my son’s salary... I had to quit my job at a vehicle parts (shop) after I fell sick... My younger son’s tempo business is also not doing very well... Shakib has four other siblings, all sisters,” Shahid said.

It was in 2014 that Shakib startedworkingasacabdriverbeforewhichheworkedatagraphic designing firm in Nehru Place.

Said his childhood friend Nadeem: “We grew up in the same locality and studied together... we did a graphic designing course locally after which Shakib took up a job in Nehru Place... but he eventually had to leave it due to personal reasons. He then began driving a cab after his brother bought him the vehicle... he was supposed to quit working as a cab driver in a few years... he was telling me that he wanted a job with more stability.”

Shahid added: “I was planning to get one of my daughters married this year... and was in the midst of renovating the whole house. Shakib had decided to contribute a lot of his savings for the repairs.”

Shakib, who was earlier employed at a graphic designing firm, started working as a cab driver in 2014