8 DK men in Jeddah Jail on grounds of illegally routing telephone calls

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, June 27, 2012: Eight young men from DK are now in Jeddah Jail in Saudi Arabia on charges of illegally passing and routing telephone calls. Their families are unable to raise the money required for their release and are seeking assistance.

Speaking about the issue at a press meet held at Press Club on June 27, Wednesday, Mr. Shahid, member of the Coir Board, Government of India, said that the eight men have been booked on the same charge, but under four different files.

 

 

Hussain Ahmed Kudroli, Mohammed Ashraf, and Yusuf Mohammed Shafi come under the first file, and the amount demanded for their release is 2 million Saudi Riyals or Rs. 3 crore.

Nasir Mohammed, Riyaz Ahmed, and Faiz Ahmed come under the second file, and the amount demanded for their release is 3 million Saudi Riyal or Rs. 4.5 crore.

Mohammed Ayub Kannoor comes under the third file and the amount demanded for his release is 80,000 Saudi Riyals or Rs. 15 lakh.

Mohammed Sharif comes under the fourth file and the amount demanded for his release is 1 million Saudi Riyals or Rs. 1.5 crore.

The families of these 8 young men have already approached the central and the state governments as well as several Saudi Arabian authorities, including the Indian Consulate in Jeddah and Riyadh, but their efforts to get them released have gone in vain. They are now trying to find some generous donor, who will help release these young men.

According to Mohammed Javed of Suratkal, brother of Mohammed Ashraf, the Saudi Telecom Company has imposed this heavy fine on the young men and that it is impossible for the families to raise this amount. The parents of these young men have become psychologically weak and some of them had to be hospitalized for depression.

Stating that the young men are in a pathetic condition, he said that the central government must show some compassion toward them. Although the court is willing to release them, the telecom company is demanding penalty for their release. The young men were kept in prison for 40 days and physically tortured till they agreed to their demands. They had even destroyed their documents and claimed that they do not have passports. Although the parents wrote a letter to the King of Saudi Arabia regarding this, they did not get a response.

Several relatives of the imprisoned young men were present at the press conference.