Media Release
Jeddah, Apr 7: Mohammed Ayoub Kannur of Dakshina Kannada district who was in a Saudi jail for over nine years, has been released. With IFF’s regular follow up, it took four months to complete the formalities and he was released and sent to India.
Mohammed Ayoub was in jail for more than nine years, after Saudi Telecom Co (STC) charged him and seven others with very heavy fines, when another Indian who ran illegal international phone call business in the building where they stayed, misused their telephone line and escaped from Saudi Arabia trapping them all. The accused were quite new to the Kingdom then, being unaware of the illegal business of the man which made it easy for him to trap them and escape from the Kingdom.
Understanding the miserable plight of these young men and their poor families, India Fraternity Forum took interest in the issue and sought the help and support of Consulate General of India, Jeddah. The Forum set up an adhoc committee, consisting the welfare coordinator of IFF Karnataka chapter Ashraf Bajpe, IFF Jeddah president Ashraf Murayoor, Mudassar Akkarangadi, Haris Goodinabali and Hussain Jokatte to mobilize the support of generous personalities and to ensure the regular follow up of the case to get the fines imposed on them reduced and to obtain an early release of all the young men in jail.
The families of these young men are very poor and unable to find even their daily bread as those who supported them, have been in jail that made their situation more deplorable. So it was impossible for them to pay the heavy fines charged on them and they had to spend more than nine years in Saudi jails. The families had submitted several memoranda to all the external affairs ministers and MPs from Karnataka requesting the support of the government for their release. IFF office-bearers met the suffering families and updated about the case details, while on vacation as well.
Meanwhile, IFF was able to ensure the support of a Saudi national (who does not wish to publish his name), who was generous and ready to spare his valuable time and made use of his contacts to ensure the release of one among those in jail, Mohammed Ayoub of Kannur village, Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, with payment to STC.
IFF expressed their gratitude to the Consulate General and to the Saudi national for all the support and co-operation extended in this issue. IFF is also grateful for the extended support from KWAR (Karavali Welfare Association, Riyadh), KMYA (Katipalla Muslim Youth Association) and other generous well-wishers.
Adhoc committee of IFF, Ashraf Bajpe, Ashraf Moryur, Mudassar Akkarangadi, Haris Goodinabali and Hussain Jokatte assured the families and relatives that the Forum will continue its relentless efforts to obtain the release of the remaining seven in the jail. However the fine imposed on them is very big and hence they are seeking the wholehearted support of all generous people to contribute to obtain their early release, as they are languishing for 9 years in jail. Those who wish to support the families of these young men may contact Mudassar Akkarangadi on 0500992139 or Ashraf Bajpe on 0593101416.