90 days after death, Barmer man’s body arrives from Riyadh

The body of the man from Barmer district, who died in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh on February 19 in suspicious circumstances, was flown to Jaipur on Friday.

The body of a man from Barmer district, who died in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh on February 19 in suspicious circumstances, was flown to Jaipur on Friday.

Raju Das (38) from Barmer was working in Riyadh (pic of the city above) and he died there in suspicious circumstances. (AFP Photo)

The body of Raju Das (38) will reach his native village Kashmir in Sheo tehsil on Saturday morning, said local legislator Manvendra Singh who has been following up with the Centre for the past 90 days to bring the body back.

Raju had left for Saudi Arabia six months ago in search of a job. He was working in Riyadh as a cattle grazer, Raju’s brother Kumbha Ram said.

His family was informed of his death on February 19 by a relative who was working in Saudi Arabia. The family sought help from the district administration and political leaders, including BJP MLA Manvendra Singh, to bring the body back.

The MLA said external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had been in touch with the Saudi Arabia government to get the body back.

“The delay in bringing back Raju Das’s body was due to his death in suspicious circumstances,” Singh said. He claimed that the Riyadh police investigated the death as a case of suicide. “After the investigation was over, lack of some documents related to Raju Das caused further delay.”

After being informed by Singh, Raju’s family members went to Jaipur to receive the body.

Raju is survived by his 65-year-old mother, 70-year-old father, his wife Guddi Devi and two kids Ramesh (5) and Kavita (3).