Report by Kahnu Nanda; Jagatsinghpur: Two Indian Muslim youths have been languishing in a Sri Lanka prison last three months due to lack of assistance from their country’s high commission in Sri Lanka, meanwhile both victims wive have been approached to Ministry of External Affairs and state Home Department through Jagatsinghpur district administration seeking release of their husbands but unresponsive action has coupled the woes of the victims’ families reported till date.
The victim Muslim youths have been identified as Salim Khan hailing from Dhanipur village six km away from Jagatsinghpur district headquarters and his colleague Sk Tamizuddin a resident of Bhimkarpur under Jajpur district.
Report said that both youth had employed in a hotel named as ‘A Hot Chips Hotel’ at Colombo in Sri Lanka as attendants having valid Indian passports and tourist visa’s arranged by their employer hotel owner from 16 February 2016.
Earlier both had been working in a hotel at Hyderabad where the Colombo based a Sri Lankan hotel owner picked up them offering attractive salary, both after being trapped with hotel owner offerings reached Colombo and joined at work immediately with validity of 11 months temporary Visa in addition to one month tourist visa effected from 16 February 2016.
According to Jahanara Begum Wife of Salim Khan informed that his husband’s visa ended on 16 February 2017 along with his colleague Sk Tamizzuddin soon after visa expiration Sri Lankan police took them to police custody and forwarded them to local court accusing insufficient of Visa, the court adjudicating the case sentenced them one year imprisonment with punitive fine and immediately sent to prison, the victims update had communicated to Jahanara by one of her kin Nasim Khan who is working there and the latter sent a judgment copy of the court written in Sri Lankan language through what’s App which is not understandable by victim’s wife due to language barrier and lack of translator, informed Jahanara.
Meanwhile Jahanara has approached Jagatsinghpur collector seeking release of his husband and collector took the matter urgently apprised additional secretary Home department on 28 March for taking appropriate action. Being concerned with the plights of Jahanara state BJP president Basanta Panda has written a letter to Sushma Swaraj Union Minister External Affairs requesting her to take step smooth release of both Indian Muslim youth but till date the victims’ families have not received any response, rued Jahanara mother of two kids.
My husband and his friend both are innocents, no offences have committed by them undergoing illegal confinement by Sri Lankan court she hoped that Sri Lankan High Commission would intervene and coordinate with Indian authorities to facilitate deportation of my husband and his colleague. My husband is the sole bread winner for family comprising two minor daughters, ailing mother, after he went jail usually has stopped sending money to family besides the alleged hotel owner has confiscated their pending remunerations soon after both forwarded to jail, Jahanara two days ago wrote a letter to Minister External Affairs seeking probe in to the case. [Ends]
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