Eight youth from Dakshina Kannada district are languishing in Brohiman Jail in Saudi Arabia for the last 10 years for running an international telephone racket using a phone number allotted to a Saudi royal family. Families have contacted external affairs minister S.M. Krishna and the Saudi king to get the youth freed, but in vain.
The youths were arested in March 2003 by Saudi authorities, who charged them with “running an illegal international phone call business activity using the telephone line that belonged to a member of Saudi royal family”. The case was registered by Saudi Telecom Company. Hussain Ahmed Kudroli, Yousuf Mohammed Shafi and Mohd Ashraf have been fined 2 million Saudi riyals (approx Rs 3 crore); Nasir Mohammed, Faiz Ahmed and Riyaz Ahmed 3 million Saudi riyals (Rs 4.5 crore); Mohd Ayub Kannoor has been fined 80,000 riyals (Rs 12 lakh) and Mohd Sharif 1 million riyals (Rs 15 lakh). They were searching for jobs at the time of their arrest and were not involved in any crime, the families said .
“My son Nasir Mohammed was working in a mobile shop in Saudi. He and his friends Faiz Ahmed and Riyaz Ahmed shifted to a rented house on March 18. The next day, the authorities arrested them on charges of running an international phone call racket. In fact, it was the earlier tenant of that house who had cheated the telephone company. The authorities found our children at the house and arrested them. The Saudi authorities coerced these boys to agree to the crime,” Nasir’s father A.K. Mohammed said.
Mr Mohammed got to know of the arrest only after 40 days. He has been fighting for his son’s release since then. He andhis wife met Nasir when they went on a Haj pilgrimage in 2006. The families have contacted External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and the Saudi king, but nothing has come out of it.
None of these families can pay the fine and get these youngsters released. They are now contacting donors to raise the money.