RIYADH, 6 February 2004 — Mohammed Rashid Hashim, 38, an Indian national who traveled to the capital from Qatif in Eastern Province to celebrate Eid Al-Adha with relatives, has gone missing. He disappeared while returning to Qatif, family members say.
A relative, Shahul Hamid Zubair, said that before returning to Qatif Hashim had hired a taxi from the old SAPTCO bus stand in the Al-Batha area. The vehicle was a chocolate-colored Camry CLN-949, he said, and the driver a Saudi.
“It is now five days and there is still no trace of him,” Zubair said.
The missing man has lived in Qatif with his wife Sabida for the last eight years. He works there for the Al-Hamrani Co. Zubair said anyone with information on his whereabouts could contact Hashim’s sponsor on 055844306 or himself on 059873917.
Such disappearances are not uncommon. The Indian Embassy says that between April 1, 2002 and May 31 last year they received 95 reports of missing persons, 40 of them Keralites. Only 23 of them have been traced so far. Various factors are cited in the case of missing persons, according to the embassy spokesman. He said that some abscond from their jobs because their employer has not paid them. Others run away to escape harassment, he said.
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Amir Qaiser, a Bangladeshi expatriate working in Riyadh, remained unknown. After his father suffered a stroke, the distressed family has been trying to contact Qaiser.
With no information or help, Samira Qaiser, Amir’s mother, has had to sell of her jewelry and belongings to support her husband.
