KTR asks UAE to free 5 NRIs detained in Dubai, repatriate them to India

Hyderabad: Telangana IT minister K.T. Rama Rao has appealed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government to free five NRIs detained in Dubai by Rajanna Sircilla. On Monday, he handed over the request letter to the UAE ambassador to India, H.E. Dr. Abdulnasser Alshaali, at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad.

Shivarathri Mallesh, Shivarathri Ravi, Nampelli Venkati, Dandugula Laxman, and Shivarathri Hanmanthu were imprisoned in Dubai in connection with the death of a Nepali named Dil Prasad Rai in 2005.

KTR, in the letter, said he personally visited Nepal in 2013 to speak with the victim’s family. The minister reminded Dil Prasad’s family that they accepted and received Rs. 15 lakhs as “victim's compensation” under Sharia law (commonly known as “blood money”). The dead man’s family filed the relevant documentation to the Dubai authorities in 2013.

“The Government of Telangana and the Government of India failed to provide legal aid for the poor migrants. They belong to minister KTR’s constituency. KTR (when he was MLA) and I went to Nepal to get the pardon letter from the deceased person’s wife,” said Bheem Reddy Mandha, president of the Emigrants Welfare Forum.

The minister said he personally brought it to the attention of the Indian embassy and the UAE embassy multiple times. Unfortunately, the UAE court denied their compassion petition. According to KTR, the only option for the five Indian labourers to be released is for the UAE Prime Minister, H.H. Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid AI Maktoum, to approve their mercy petition.

KTR requested that the ambassador investigate the facts of the case and its status and bring it to the attention of the UAE PM to approve the mercy petition of the five Indian laborers for their release from Aweer jail in Dubai, as well as to have them repatriated from Dubai to India as soon as possible.