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
March 12,2020

Bhopal, Mar 12: Madhya Pradesh Congress on Thursday alleged that two of its ministers who had gone to Bengaluru to meet the rebel party legislators were assaulted.

"Two of our ministers Jitu Patwari and Lakhan Singh had gone to Bengaluru. They were assaulted, we have info that our ministers have been arrested," Madhya Pradesh Congress leader said during a press conference.

Congress further warned that if the police don't take action, the party will take it to the court.

Some of the rebel MLAs had said in a video on Wednesday that they were in Bengaluru out of their own will.

The rebel MLAs have been staying in Bengaluru over the past few days.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 20: Continuing with the easing of restrictions under 'Unlock 1.0', the Karnataka government on Saturday authorised local bodies to fix timing for opening of public parks other than those in the containment zones between 5 am to 9 pm.

It has also mandated adhering to all the national directives issued to contain the spread of COVID-19 and the guidelines issued by the state government in this connection.

Noting that the government has been relaxing conditions under unlock 1.0, Principal Secretary Revenue N Manjunath Prasad, who is also the member secretary of the state disaster management authority in an order said, local bodies have been asked to set the timing between 5 am to 9 pm to open all parks that come under them and the government.

It said this would be applicable to only those parks that come outside the containment zones. Earlier in May, while relaxing the lockdown norms, the government had set 7 am to 9 am and from 5 pm to 7 pm for the opening of parks.

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News Network
May 27,2020

Bengaluru, May 27: Amid uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has disrupted school education in Karnataka, the state government is seeking the help of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to televise classes, a state minister said on Tuesday.

"We request you to provide minimum three channels on the Doordarshan network exclusively for the Department of Public Instruction, Government of Karnataka," Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar said in a letter to Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Suggesting co-branding the channels under DD and the state education department, he asked for the channels to be mandatorily transmitted by the cable and DTH operators under the Cable Act.

The state education department has already discussed with Prasar Bharti officials, who, according Kumar, have assured 3+3 hours of timeslots on the education channel Chandana on cost basis.

"We have also made all the necessary arrangements for content creation by the teachers," he said.

Meanwhile, the minister has revealed that television is the best medium for the students as a home learning mode in these challenging times.

"The department of public instruction reviewed various technological options and considered TV as one of the best means for home learning," Kumar said.

In a survey conducted by the education department, it was found out that 95 per cent households had television sets.

Kumar said the state operates government schools in nine languages, including Kannada, English and Urdu.

"To cater to all the students, and considering a long-term strategy to run schools by maintaining social distancing, we are in immediate need of minimum three exclusive channels to teach through TV," he said.

According to Kumar, the Karnataka government is facing hardships to meet the capital expenditure requirements, hence, it is seeking help from the I&B Ministry.

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