'Mini Taj' maker dies in UP hit-and-run

Lucknow, Nov 10 (IANS) Faizul Hasan Qadri, who hit headlines for building a 'mini-Taj Mahal' in memory of his late wife in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh, has been killed in a road accident, police said on Saturday.Qadri sustained serious injuries in the late Thursday hit-and-run incident in Kesar Kalan. The 83-year-old retired Postmaster was admitted in hospital where he died on Friday. He had begun constructing his mini Taj Mahal in 2012 in memory of Taja Mulli Bibi. The couple was married in 1953.He could not complete his 'monument of love' as he spent all his savings in the basic structure. After the news of the 'Taj Mahal' spread, the then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav summoned Qadri to Lucknow and offered him funds to complete the structure and get the marble work done.Qadri politely declined the offer and asked the Samajwadi Party leader to establish a girls inter-college in his village instead. The college is up and running and even was donated some land by Qadri. His relatives said the former Postmaster had saved Rs two lakh and was set to purchase marble from Jaipur to end his edifice, but destiny intervened.His relatives now plan to bury him alongside his wife, just like Mughal emperor Shah Jahan was by his Mumtaz. They would also complete Qadri's Taj Mahal in a grand manner. The family has refused post-mortem of his body.
--IANS md/in