Tortured in Saudi desert, Ullal youth pleads for his rescue from the clutches of sponsor

[email protected] (CD Network)
June 23, 2012

Mangalore, Jun 23: A woman has sought Mangalore city police's help to rescue her young son from the clutches of an unknown sponsor in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

23-year-old Ashraf, son of Asiyamma and Late Abdul Gafoor from Kotepur, Ullal, had left for the oil rich nation on April 27 after obtaining a visa sent by a third party to Nisa Travel Agency in Kannur, Kerala.

desertHowever, a few days later Ashraf called Asiyamma to inform her that the visa agent had deceived him. Though he had been promised the job of 'office boy', he was forced to work day and night in an isolated desert.

After this call there was no communication from Ashraf for nearly two months. However, recently Asiyamma's brother received an unknown ISD missed call. When he called back, he heard the voice of Ashraf, who explained about the physical and mental torture that he has been undergoing in the desert. He informed that his health condition has also deteriorated due to torture and lack of food. He also requested to rescue him from the clutches of the cruel sponsor.

Asiyamma, who submitted a memorandum to city police chief Seemant Kumar Singh on Friday, demanding the police intervention to rescue Ashraf, said that she had spent over Rs 60,000 to send her bread winning son abroad.

She said that one Farooq from Manjeshwar had initially approached her son to inform about the requirement of an 'office boy' in KSA.

When contacted, Farooq said that his neighbor Abdullah, who is working in KSA, had asked him to inform if there was any aspirant for 'office boy' visa.

“Accordingly, I contacted one of my relatives, who in turn suggested Ashraf's name. As Ashraf agreed to move abroad, Abdullah called me to inform that the visa had already been sent to 'Nisa Travel Agency.  I asked Ashraf to collect it after confirming its authenticity, as I had not even seen it”, Farooq said.

Asiyamma said that when her brothers recently contacted Abdullah directly and told him about Ashraf's hardships, he demanded a sum of Saudi Riyal 10,000, i.e. Rs 1.5 lakh to rescue him.

She said that Abdullah himself is mainly responsible for her son's condition as it was he who received him at an Airport in KSA and handed him over to an unknown sponsor.

She urged Mr Singh to inquire into this 'cheating' case and help her son to get freedom from the unknown sponsor.

Farooq said that he was shocked when he came to know the fact. “Later, I also contacted Abdullah over phone to ask whether he had cheated an innocent youth after promising him 'office boy' job? However, I did not get proper reply from him. He just told me that the visa was sent by some of his relatives and not by him”, he said. “I even did not know who the agent of that visa was”, Farooq added.

Having completed only his primary education, Ashraf was working at a mill in Ullal before flying abroad.

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News Network
February 28,2020

Suhaana shuddered with fear as she heard violent banging on her door on Sunday. The atmosphere was charged with communal tension after thousands of ruthless goons supporting contentious Citizens Amendment Act (CAA) launched a bloody onslaught against Muslims in the capital of India.

The family consists of Suhaana (name changed), her partially paralysed husband and two daughters. They are the only Muslim family in Madhuban mohalla of North Ghonda locality in north-east Delhi.

Hearts pounded louder than pounding of the door. Then the banging stopped and noises of men talking loudly came.

"I peeped out from a small window near the kitchen and saw our neighbours standing outside our entrance and arguing with 10-15 unknown people," Suhaana said.

It was the first day of the communal violence, worst in the decades, that fanned out to the entire north-east Delhi over the next three days and claimed at least 42 lives, left over 200 injured and properties worth crores destroyed. The death toll is feared to go up.

Later in the night Suhaana's family moved to one of their Hindu neighbour's house. There are about 30 Hindu households in the mohalla who kept vigil as the atmosphere deteriorated.

The next day, the violence escalated. The neighbours decided to shift Suhaana 's family to Gautampuri for their safety.

Suhaana recounted, "Our neighbours assured us that they are with us but as things were deteriorating, they said they wouldn't be able to protect us if a big mob of hundreds came. They advised us to move to the nearby Gautampuri locality and come back only after things become normal."

Rajkumar Bharadwaj brought the family to Gautampuri in the early hours on February 25.

Anil Gupta, 49, said, "It was tough to rescue them. We were asked by the rioters as to why we were saving the Muslims. But we had to, it is the people of my country who are suffering. It cannot be Hindus or Muslims."

Rajkumar Bharadwaj said, "Their youngest clung to me throughout. After I brought them here at Gautampuri, I felt good. Situation till then was not okay."

On Saturday, some semblance of normalcy returned to parts of north-east Delhi with some people opening their shops amid heavy police presence.

Meanwhile, the morbid sight outside GTB Hospital's mortuary, agonising groans in the hospital wards burnt down houses and shops remind Suhaana and others what they have been spared of.

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News Network
May 2,2020

Bengaluru, May 2: Former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah have urged the state government to arrange free-transport facilities to those stranded labourers and their family members to return their native places.

In a statement issued here on Friday, the former chief minister criticised the State Government for having decided to collect bur fare from them, ''three-times more than the regular fare''.

Stating that the migrant labourers, who had been stranded ever since lockdown had been clamped in the entire country are not in a position to pay for their travel, Siddaramaiah urged the state government to treat them with human face.

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News Network
May 3,2020

Bengaluru, May 3: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa requested his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray to release six TMC water from his state's reservoirs to rivers in Karnataka to meet acute drinking water shortage in North Karnataka.

Yediyurappa pointed out that the North Karnataka districts, namely Belagavi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Kalaburagi, Yadagiri and Raichur are facing acute shortage of drinking water due to onset of summer during early days of March this year.

"I request you to kindly direct the concerned authorities to release 3 TMC of water from Warna/Koyna reservoirs to Krishna river and 3 TMC of water from Ujjaini reservoir to Bhima river on humanitarian grounds for drinking purpose," Yediyurappa said in his letter.

He reminded Thackeray that even in the past the Maharashtra government had released water from its reservoirs to meet the drinking water needs of both human beings and livestock in drought-affected areas of Karnataka.

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