Tearful adieu to Siddique

Kochi: Kerala on Wednesday bid tearful adieu to popular filmmaker Siddique, whose mortal remains were interred at the Ernakulam Central Juma Masjid with state of honours.Siddique breathed his last on Tuesday night at a private hospital in Kochi. He was under treatment for the last few weeks for liver-related ailments.Hundreds including MLAs T J Vinod and Uma Thomas were present when the body was taken to his home. The burial ceremony was held around 6.30pm.The body was kept earlier at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Kadavanthra, in the city, from 9am to 12pm, for the public to pay homage. A huge crowd including political leaders, film personalities and socio-cultural leaders waited in a long queue to have a glimpse of the popular director. Among those who paid last respects included Mammootty, Jayaram, Dileep, Dulqar Salman, Sai Kumar, Mukesh, Janardhanan, Sibi Malayil, Tovino Thomas, Kamal, Jayasurya, Chandy Oommen, Nambi Narayanan and district collector N S K Umesh. The stadium witnessed an emotional scene when director Lal, who had teamed up with Siddique initially to make five hit movies, broke into tears. The duo’s mentor Fazil and actor Fahadh Faasil were seen trying to console Lal.After being kept at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Siddique's body was brought to his house at Pallikkara, for the relatives to pay respects, around 1pm. His body was taken to the Central Jumamasjid around 6pm in a procession.