New Delhi: Two Indian workers in the Gulf are reportedly being held hostage by their employer. Gurnam Singh and Balwinder Singh say they have no food or money and that their employer is forcing them to sign a contract failing which he has threatened to send them to prison.
The men who hail from Ambala allege they were duped by their agent. They had paid their agent Rs 50 lakh for getting well-paying jobs in the Gulf. Their family now wants the Indian Government to intervene and speak to UAE authorities.
A relative says, "Food is served to them in dirty polythene bags. They said that if they didn't escape from there they would commit suicide."
The plight of Indian labour in the Gulf was last highlighted by a stowaway, Habib Hussain.
Hussain, who hails from Moradabad, hid in an Air India flight last week to escape from his employer in Medina. He was discovered in the flight's toilet at Jaipur airport.
Hussain alleges he was duped of Rs 1.5 lakh by an agent who placed him in a completely different job from what he had initially promised to get him in Gulf. He also alleges that his employer made him work 14 hours daily without wages and confiscated his passport.
"In the last six months, I have just eaten one roti and one bowl of daal worth Re 1 everyday - this bought from the money that Hajis tipped me with," he said.
He says he sold two 'bigha' of his land to pay the agent and had left behind just about Rs 11,000 for his family.
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