At least five Indian expatriates should pay money they owe to their respective sponsors in order to be released from Al-Hair Prison, said Latheef Thechy, member of Kerala Relief Wing (KRW), a Riyadh-based social organization which is extending assistance to the jailed Indian workers. Thechy said KRW has been representing around 12 Indians detained in various prisons in Riyadh on different charges. However, around five were detained after their sponsors complained to the police of alleged fund misappropriations. Guru Swamy Pareniwal Raja, accounts controller in a transportation company, has been languishing in Al-Hair Prison for the past 34 months after being charged by his sponsor of misappropriation of funds to the tune of SR42,000. Abubaker, a cab driver and Aji Nielson, a technician, have to pay back to their sponsors SR27,000 and SR34,000 in order to be released. While Muhammad Basheer, accountant-cum-salesman, and Muhammad Khaja Mohiuddin, company manager, who are still awaiting release from the jail have managed to pay SR30,000 and SR15,000 to their respective sponsors. Thechy said Basheer worked for eight years with a company but landed in Al-Hair Prison after his sponsor alleged misappropriation of funds against him. “The KRW managed to establish contact with Basheer's wife back home in India and informed her about the legal problem,” Thechy said. Basheer's wife sent the equivalent of SR30,000 after borrowing it from her relatives and by selling her gold and jewelry, he said adding that the amount was paid to the sponsor. The KRW social workers and friends of Mohiuddin raised SR15,000, which has already been paid to his sponsor. Both Basheer, who was working on a monthly salary of SR1,600 and Mohiuddin are expected to be released soon, Thechy said. However, in the case of others such as Raja, Abubaker and Nielson, KRW has sought the intervention of Riyadh Governor's Office and the National Society for Human Rights.
