Longtime Niles restaurant owner killed in India crash mourned by workers

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Updated: February 20, 2012 8:38AM

A Naperville family killed in a car crash in India earlier this month had ties to the Niles business community.

Longtime Niles business owner Iqbal Habib, his wife, Zeenat, and their two children, ages 6 and 10, were all killed in the car crash Jan. 6 while visiting India.

Habib, 45, owned a number of retail food businesses in the area — including the Subway restaurant at Village Crossing in Niles.

“He was a very nice boss,” said Nabeel Siddiqui, manager at the Subway who worked with Habib for seven years. “He was like family.”

Siddiqui said Habib was a generous person to work for.

“If we needed anything, he was just there,” Siddiqui said.

Siddiqui said Habib had owned the Subway store at Village Crossing since 1993.

A female employee at the Subway restaurant also expressed her sadness about the crash, saying that Habib was a very nice person and describing him as being just like family.