‘13 from HP, one from Punjab stranded in S Arabia’
OF 13 MEN, NINE BELONG TO SUNDERNAGAR AND FOUR ARE RESIDENTS OF BALH SEGMENT OF MANDI DISTRICT
MANDI:Fourteen Indians, including 13 from Himachal and one from Punjab, have been stranded in Saudi Arabia, after they were allegedly duped by their recruiting agent.
The matter was brought to light when wife of one of the stranded men approached police and district administration for help on Friday.
Of 13 men, nine belong to Sundernagar and four are residents of Balh segment of Mandi district.
In her complaint, Saroju Kumari, wife of Harjinder Singh of Sundernagar, claimed that her husband and 13 other persons went to Saudi Arabia after recruiting agent promised them high-paying jobs abroad.
She identified the agent as Mohmmad Asif of Sudnernagar sub-division and accused him of charging ₹90,000 as fee for arranging the visa for jobs abroad.
She alleged that the agent sent all 14 on tourist visa for three months and informed that the company, where they will be employed, will arrange for the working visa.
Kumari said even though tourist visa of all 14 had expired, they were not yet provided with work visa and forced to work overtime without extra incentives.
Saroj told police that company owners had taken passports of all 14.
The stranded were identified as Tanuj Kumar, Ravi Kant, Ashwani, Shyam Lal, Onkar Chand, Devendra Kumar, Vikram Chand, Prem Singh, Joginder Singh, Manoj Kumar, Lalit Kumar, Devender and Bhupendra of district Mandi.
Sundernagar police station house officer (SHO) inspector Gurbachan Singh confirmed that the police had received a complaint and were investigating the matter.
Sundernagar MLA Rakesh Jambal said he will urge the chief minister and Mandi MP to raise the issue with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.