In search of greener pastures, Gurdaspur man lands in Saudi jail
GURDASPUR: A 38-year-old man, who had gone to Saudi Arabia a year ago with the help of a local travel agent has been lodged in Safar Jail there since a month now.
The Gurdaspur resident Kamal Manjinder Singh, had gone to Saudi Arabia on 18 September, 2017. His father, Budh Singh, has contacted Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab president and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann for help.
He came to know about his son’s condition through a video in which Kamal along with three to four youths, including a Bathinda resident Hardeep Singh, can be seen appealing to Bhagwant Mann to get them released from the jail. The video has been made from the jail itself.
Mann has promised to take up the case with the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to get his son released.
Kamal, who is a matric pass, is married with two children. His wife Sonia,32, and two kids Manjit Singh,7, and Jasmine Kaur, 2, are living in Gurdaspur.
“Mandeep,who runs a travel agency — Guru Kirpa Travels — in Gurdaspur took ₹1.5 lakh cash and a cheque of ₹50,000 from us to send Kamal abroad,” said Budh Singh.
“Mandeep had promised us that Kamal will get 1400 Riyal a month from the company for which he would work as a driver,” his father said.
“They did not pay my son, just gave him food and kept him at the company campus,” he said.
Travel agent Mandeep refuted the allegations and said that he had a proof of Kamal getting salary from the company.
“He must have done something illegal that is why he is lodged in the jail,” travel agent Mandeep said.
Budh Singh said that his son had got a driving licence from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Interior about a month ago, but his company took away the licence after a week.