RIYADH, 9 March 2006 — Two Indians were bailed out of their plight following the intervention of Saudi citizens and the Indian Embassy here.
In one case, Dr. Ganesh Pande, whose sponsor refused to return his passport, will leave for India on a five-week vacation for the first time in nearly three and a half years.
Pande, a specialist in internal medicine working at a clinic in Riyadh, had been involved in a yearslong dispute with his employer.
“Without your support I do not think this would have been possible,” Pande said in a message to Khaled Almaeena, editor-in-chief of Arab News, who had taken up his case with the Riyadh Governorate.
In the second case, Saudi businessman-cum-social worker Abdullah Al-Nahadh helped secure the release of Indian truck driver Doraiswamy who had been under detention following a fatal accident a year ago. Both Al-Nahadh and Doraiswamy were felicitated at a get-together arranged at the office of Al-Nahadh here.
Pande said the return of his documents did not mark the end of his ordeal. His main concern was the recovery of back pay from his previous sponsor, who is still holding out despite the lawsuit against him.
“The Higher Committee had previously informed us that we shall receive a judgment in the case on March 5. However, when my lawyer attended the hearing on that day, the committee stated that they need some more papers from my sponsor and it gave yet another date.”
He said it appears that the case will run perpetually. “The proceeding started in September 2003 and it is now almost three years since then,” Pande observed.
He said the Indian ambassador and his officials sought the help of Riyadh Governor Prince Salman to solve the problem.
Doraiswamy was arrested when his water tanker plowed into a car killing two Saudi youths. Shajahan, an office-bearer of the Riyadh Indian Association, sought Al-Nahadh’s intervention in the matter.
Abdullah, with the help of his friend Saud ibn Mushnan Al-Gabbani, a police official, contacted the parents of both youths to negotiate the release of Doraiswamy.
Al-Nahadh said Doraiswamy could have been released much earlier but for his sponsor’s refusal to intervene in the matter.
