Debt-ridden Nizamabad NRI out of jail, back home

Jeddah: A Telangana NRI who had been waiting to be freed from the jail for the last two years for failing to pay debts was finally released and repatriated back home on Tuesday. Though he was in jail for two years, he had been away from home for the last nine years.

Abdul Jubair (40) of Mortad mandal in Nizamabad district, who came to Saudi Arabia in 2012 to work as a driver in the Hail province, ran away from the employer and went to the Eastern Province, about 1,000 km away. Dammam-headquartered Eastern Province houses the world’s largest oil refinery and numerous construction projects, where thousands of unskilled labourers from Telangana work.

Jubair, who was declared an absconder by his employer, was unable to renew Iqama (work permit) which made him an offender under the law of the land. He managed to get a forged Iqama in the hope of getting a better job. He rented a car and was driving illegally for survival, only to be arrested during a routine check on January 25, 2018.

Meanwhile, he also defaulted on the payment of the car rent, which added to his jail stay even after serving the sentence for the Iqama forgery.

Back home, Jubair’s wife Sharifa (30), along with three children, struggling for survival in a rented house in Armoor, knocked on every door for help to get her husband released.

Jubair’s story was highlighted in ‘Telangana Today’ and a young Hyderabadi software professional, moved by the story, settled the outstanding amount on behalf of Jubair and paved the way for his release.

In fact, Jubair would have been released much earlier but for the travel situation created by the Covid-19 pandemic. He was finally released on Tuesday and flew to New Delhi from where he will travel to Hyderabad. He was met in the prison by Indian community worker Manikuttan, who coordinated his release with the officials concerned.

Jubair’s daughter, Hania, was a three-day infant when he came to Saudi Arabia, and now she is 9 years old.

 

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