Thakiyudeen Abdul Wahid was a leading India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n entrepreneur and aviator. He was the Managing Director of the now-defunct East West Airlines

East-West Airlines (India)

East-West Airlines was the first Indian private scheduled airline to take off the ground after the Open Skies policy was announced in 1991. The airline ceased operations in 1996.-History:...

.Mr. Wahid along with his brother, Mr. Nasirudeen A Wahid created East West Airlines, Indias first private airlines, from the success of a profitably run recruiting business to further travel agency business. A Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

, he was one of well-known Muslim entrepreneurs in India along with the Allanas, Khorakiwalas and Hamieds.

Biography

Thaki was born at a coastal village called Odayam in Edava panchayat in the South Indian state of Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

.

Under his mantle, East-West Airlines became one of the leading domestic air carriers

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 in India. However, the airline fell into bad times and wound up operations after Thaki was assassinated outside his office in Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 in 1995. Noted Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

-based Indian gangster, Chhota Rajan

Chhota Rajan

Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan is the boss of a major crime syndicate based in India. He is a former key aide and lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim. Starting as a petty thief and bootlegger working for Rajan Nair, also known as Bada Rajan . Chhota Rajan took over the reins of Bada Rajan's...

 claimed responsibility for the killing. Wahid was shot dead by a group of 6 gunmen right outside his Bandra office. The gunmen broke the window of his car with a hammer and then riddled him with over 30 bullets. His driver, although seriously injured, still managed to drive him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Thakiyudeen Wahid was well known in social circles in India's commercial capital of Bombay (now Mumbai), as well as in the Middle Eastern countries of Bahrain

Bahrain

' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...

, Oman

Oman

Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...

 and Dubai

Dubai

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

. With the aid of his brothers and several close friends and associates in the Middle East, he built East West into one of India's most formidable airlines.

The East-West Group is now looked after by Mr Wahid's brothers, Thahakutty Wahid, Nasiruddin Wahid

Nasiruddin Wahid

Nasiruddin Wahid is a Bahrain-based NRI , who is the Chairman of India's East-West Group. Wahid was one of the promoters of the now defunct East-West Airlines, which was once one of the leading domestic aircraft carriers of India. As recently as 2003, there had been media reports that Wahid was in...

 and Faisal Wahid, who are based in Bahrain & India respectively.