Home finally! Year-long ordeal ends for Samrala man trapped in Dubai
The victim, Chamkila Singh of Salaudi village of Samrala, had gone to Dubai on March 17, 2023, with the help of a travel agent who had promised to get him work visa once he landed there
A Samrala resident, trapped in Dubai for over a year, finally returned home on Sunday, thanks to the timely intervention of a local NGO.
The victim, Chamkila Singh of Salaudi village of Samrala, had gone to Dubai on March 17, 2023, with the help of a travel agent who had promised to get him work visa once he landed there. Instead, he was sent to Dubai on a tourist visa, for which Chamkila paid ₹80,000.
But as soon as the victim landed in Dubai, the travel agent’s aides took him captive and seized all his papers and documentation. For the next several months, Chamkila was made to work at a construction site without any pay.
“After a few months when I asked them for salary, they beat me up brutally. Due to the assault, I suffered several injuries, including a fracture,” he revealed.
Back home, his wife, Manpreet Kaur, was receiving constant threats from the travel agent and his aides. The agent told her to arrange ₹1.20 lakh if she wanted to ensure the safe return of her husband. Manpreet said that she received several calls from the travel agents and his aides who threatened to kill her husband if the payment was not done.
On September 1, 2023, Manpreet finally mustered the courage to register a police complaint. But the accused managed to convince her to withdraw the complaint. But better sense prevailed, and Manpreet again registered a complaint against the accused on October 11, 2023.
Finally, an NGO, ‘Helping Hands Punjab’ came into the picture and got actively involved in the case. The NGO, with the help of counterparts in Dubai, pursued the matter with the Indian Consulate and rescued Chamkila.
Samrala station house officer (SHO) sub-inspector Rao Varinder Singh said that a case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 24 of the Immigration Act has been registered against the travel agent identified as Dilpreet Singh alias Deep of Samrala and his aides. All accused are currently on the run.
Chamkila, meanwhile, is no longer in a position to work as he suffered a fracture in his arm due to the thrashing and has a metal plate inserted in his arm, as part of his treatment.