He has even urged Indian businessmen close to the UAE leadership to the get the men — who have served a 15-year sentence — released.
Published Sep 06, 2023 | 8:48 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 06, 2023 | 8:49 PM
KTR meets UAE officials to ask for the release of 5 Telangana men from a Dubai jail. (KTRBRS/Twitter)
Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao has urged the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government to consider and approve the mercy petition of five NRIs from the state’s Rajanna Sircilla district as they have been languishing in the Aweer Jail in Dubai.
The minister, who is on a business trip in Dubai, met the UAE government’s officials to intensify his efforts to get the NRIs repatriated at the earliest.
KTR spoke to the Indian Consul General in Dubai, the Arab lawyer who is handling the case, and other government officials to enquire about the status of the case and urged for the mercy petition approval.
దుబాయ్ లో శిక్ష అనుభవిస్తున్న తెలంగాణ ఎన్నారైల క్షమాబిక్ష కోసం మంత్రి @KTRBRS ప్రయత్నం
➡️ దుబాయ్ భారత కాన్సుల్ జనరల్ కార్యాలయ అధికారులు, దుబాయ్ ప్రభుత్వ అధికారులు, కేసు వాదిస్తున్న అరబ్ లాయర్ తదితరులతో మంత్రి సమావేశం
➡️ ఖైదీల విడుదల కోసం నిరంతరం కృషి చేస్తున్న మంత్రి కేటీఆర్… pic.twitter.com/aMqR2dg56Z
— BRS Party (@BRSparty) September 6, 2023
Five Indian nationals — Shivarathri Mallesh, Shivarathri Ravi, Gollem Nampally, Dundugula Laxman, and Shivarathri Hanmanthu — are lodged in the Dubai prison in connection with the death of a Nepalese national. They have already completed a sentence of 15 years.
The minister has for years been making all possible efforts to get them released and brought back to India.
KTR personally visited Nepal to meet the victim’s family members and handed over ₹15 lakhs as “victim’s compensation”, as per the Sharia Law provision “Diyyah” (also referred to as “blood money”).
The victim’s family subsequently submitted the mercy petition documents to the UAE government.
However, due to some reason and the gravity of the crime, the UAE government didn’t approve the mercy petition.
KTR enquired about the progress of the case even six months ago and made several attempts to get them released.
During his latest trip to Dubai, the Minister once again brought the facts of the case to the notice of Indian Consulate officials and the Dubai government officers.
Expressing his concern, the minister requested the UAE government to approve the mercy petition, considering that the five NRIs had already served a sentence of 15 years and also held a good conduct certificate from the jail authorities.
As a Dubai court rejected the case, KTR urged the officials he met to get the five Indian nationals repatriated with the approval of the mercy petition by the UAE’s President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The minister earlier met a few businessmen who have close ties with the ruler’s family and requested their help in the release of the NRIs.
The businessmen assured him that they would take up the issue with the Dubai government within the purview of the local laws.
The minister made an earnest appeal to Indian Consul General Ram Kumar to make special efforts to solve the case, and promised all the support at the personal level and also from the government’s side.