Kerala CM works to save 4 Indians on death row

The chief minister of the Indian state of Kerala, Ommen Chandy, is seeking the release of four Indians who are on death row in Saudi Arabia, according to P. Siva Das, special emissary of Kerala chief minister.
In the four cases, families of the convicted men in India have approached the chief minister for help, and the chief minister is exploring the possibility of paying diya (blood money) to gain their release, the special emissary told Arab News last night in Jeddah.
Siva Das was in the Kingdom to negotiate with the family of a deceased Saudi in Khamis Mushait to settle and negotiate the diya amount.
He also met with an Indian philanthropist, Mohammed Alungal of Abeer Polyclinic in Jeddah, seeking financial aid for diya payment.
He said that the Kerala state government’s effort is aiming to secure the release of an Indian driver who was charged with causing the death of a Saudi in a road mishap last year.
Siva Das said that the Indian driver, Vinish Pappachand, a native of Kerala, was employed as a driver in Khamis Mushait. His employer, however, assigned him to a job at JVC, an excavation company, where he worked on road construction site on Najran road. He was found to be 75 percent at fault in a road accident that killed a Saudi in 2012. He was ordered to pay a diya of SR 225,000.
The driver’s family in Kerala is not in a position to pay the diya so the entire village and nearby villages approached the chief minister to intervene in the case.
Siva Dass said that the chief minister instructed him to fly to Saudi Arabia to meet the deceased family and also with prominent Kerala community members to seek their assistance.
He said that he has met with the deceased family along with NORKA coordinator Shihab Kottukad and Indian social workers. The deceased’s family has agreed to accept a diya amount of SR 150,000 instead of SR 225,000.
The special emissary visited Jeddah where he met with the Indian business entrepreneur and chairman of Abeer Polyclinic, Mohammed Alungal, who provided money to help meet the diya amount.