Karnataka - Bidar   

Families cheated in name of relatives

By Our Staff Correspondent

BIDAR, JUNE 8. Some families in Bidar have been reportedly cheated by a gang of persons which sought money saying that their (families') relatives in West Asia needed "treatment''.

Syed Jaleel, a retired pharmacist, gave Rs 3,000 to a man claiming to be a friend of his son-in-law who lives in Saudi Arabia. A man called me up to say that my son-in-law had suffered a heart attack and needed money for medicines urgently. He had also called up my relatives elsewhere and asked them to inform me.

"We were all concerned about my son-in-law's health and arranged loans from friends." The man asked us to come to Bidar bus stand from where he was leaving for Hyderabad Airport. He said that his uncle who was leaving for Saudi Arabia would take the money with him. "When we offered to buy the medicines ourselves, he said the list of medicines was with his uncle and he would buy them on the way to Saudi Arabia," Mr. Jaleel said. Haneef Mohammed's wife sold her jewels to pay Rs. 8,000 to the man who promised to carry medicines to her son.

Abdul Hafeez, whose two sons are working in Riyadh, was tempted to pay money to such a caller till he called up one of his sons to confirm the news. "When I heard that both were fine, I heaved a sigh of relief," Mr. Hafeez said.

Though he did not pay the money, efforts to catch the culprits failed. In a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police, families from old Bidar have said that not less than 15 such incidents have occurred in the last week.

Quaza Aliuddin, a senior mullah and leader of the community, said that most of the families, which had sons or sons-in-law working outside the country, were under constant fear.

He has sought a probe into the incident. He suspected the involvement of some local youth.

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