8 youths rescued from Dubai reach city

Tribune News Service

Mohali, February 15

Even though the Central and the Punjab Governments have been acting tough against the immigration agents, the youths of Punjab and Haryana eyeing greener pastures continue to fall prey to them.

One such incident came to the fore when eight of the 29 persons, who were trapped in Dubai, returned to the Chandigarh international airport today.

The rescued youths have been identified as Zorawar Singh, Mintu, Jobanjeet Singh, Rinku, Pawan Sharma, Inderjeet, Shubham and Puneet Kumar. They were accompanied by Dubai-based Indian businessman SP Oberoi, who managed to rescue them. While three boys are from Punjab, four are from Haryana and one from Delhi.

Addressing the mediapersons, Oberoi said these youths used to work for more than 15 hours a day and had been working as security guard for a Pakistani company. Though they had been working hard for the company, they had not been paid any salary for the past more than six months.

Oberoi said Punjab agents had taken Rs 3-4 lakh per youth on the pretext on sending them abroad. However, when they reached Dubai, their dreams were shattered as they were told to work as security guard for a Pakistani company. He said as the company had failed to pay them money, the youths were forced to leave the company and had to remain hungry for many days.

He said later these youths went to a gurdwara there from where they approached him. He then arranged for their visa and air ticket and brought them back to India.

Oberoi said he had also taken up the issue with the officials of the Punjab Government and other states for taking legal action against the fraudsters. The remaining 21 youths would also be brought back to India in a week, he said.

“More than 100 Indian girls are trapped in Muscat. I have urged the Indian government to take up the issue with the government there to bring back the girls, who are mostly from Kerala,” and added that he would also make efforts at his own level.

Meanwhile, the youths said their families did not even know that they were returning to the country. They would head straight to their homes as they had no money left with them.