Zacky no more

Today we with much regret bring to our readers the sad news of the demise of our long time colleague Zacky Jabbar (60). He died at home at Kumaragewatte, Pelawatte, where he had lived alone since the death of his mother. All that we have pieced together is that he last checked the Whats-app on the night of August 19, but since he lived a bohemian life like so many journalists, his body was discovered by his elder brother Zalman only on Wednesday.

It had not been unusual for Zacky to travel around, especially to places like the Maldives and be absent from office for days on end especially since he reached the retirement age of 55. But when he failed to turn up for some time we made discreet inquiries from his acquaintances and colleagues. We did not want it to be a megaphone search as Zacky guarded his private life. We finally managed to contact his brother Zalman, on Wednesday, to learn that even he and his sister, too, had been puzzled by Zacky’s absence from a family wedding last weekend.

Zacky entered the field of journalism in 1985 by joining the now defunct Sun newspaper after having worked at Browns. He joined The Island in the mid-80s and ever since had been a hard working member of our team. He specialised in covering the political round with very close contacts in the UNP and the previous government. He certainly was not a clock watcher; he was usually one of the last to leave office on any given working day.

Kaduwela Acting Magistrate ordered Zacky’s body to be released to Zalman for burial yesterday at the Muslim cemetery at Battaramulla. The magisterial order was given following the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) Dr. Sameera Gunaratne’s decision not to issue a death certificate as the cause of the death couldn’t be determined. The Magistrate said that the body had been found by Zalman on Sept 09 at Zacky’s home (No 1084/J Peiris Mawatha, Kumaragewatte)