Andhra Pradesh - Karimnagar   

Many from Karimnagar languish in Gulf jails

Staff Reporter

Overstay after expiry of visiting visas stated to be reason

KARIMNAGAR: Several gullible people from the rural areas of the district who migrated in search of employment to the oil-rich nations of the Gulf region are languishing in jails following their overstay after expiry of their visiting visas, reports reaching here said.

Over the last four days, the Muscat police have launched a special drive to weed out foreigners overstaying without visas or visiting visas in their country, the reports said. Accordingly, in the drive against overstay by foreigners, some 350 to 500 people from various parts of Karimnagar district have been arrested and put behind bars for staying without proper visa and expiry of visiting visas.

Family members contacted

Some of the youth of Sircilla division, who are staying in Oman and Muscat had contacted their family members and explained their plight and how the police had swooped down on the camps where a majority of people from Karimnagar district were residing.

Unable to earn a living in their villages and craze for jobs in the Gulf nations, several hundreds of local people migrated to the oil-rich nations to make a fast buck and return to their villages. From Karimnagar district a majority of people migrate from the Jagtial and Sircilla revenue divisions and also from the upland Husnabad region.

Cashing in on the craze for jobs in the Gulf, travel agents are making a killing by taking advantage of the local people's ignorance about the procedure to secure passport and visa. For all this, the agents charge anything between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakhs. Following the news of about the en masse arrest of Karimnagar residents in Muscat, the relatives have been making frantic calls to the Gulf countries to know the whereabouts of their beloved ones. The district police have appealed to people not to fall prey to the travel agents and migrate to the Gulf countries with proper visas, but in vain.

The Superintendent of Police, Devendra Singh Chouhan, has appealed to the people to consult the Gulf victims' helpline at the SB (special branch) at the SP's office or the SP personally for redress of their grievances.

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