Dubai: A job seeker landed in jail after a potential employer allegedly misused his personal documents to steal a car after renting it in his name, Gulf News has learnt.

 Although he was able to prove his innocence after fighting a legal battle for 13 months, just as he thought he had put the nightmare behind him, he found a similar criminal case lodged against him in a different emirate — this time, a car had been rented in his name while he was in police custody.

Calling on residents to be careful about circulating copies of their personal documents, Kalesh Kamalan Sheela said: "All I did was apply for a job after seeing an advertisement in a newspaper in January 2011. A person from that company in Sharjah conducted a telephone interview and a few days later offered me the job, and asked me to send copies of my passport and driver's licence."

"That's how it all began," 28-year-old Kalesh, an Indian, hailing from Kerala, said. He was working as a salesman in Abu Dhabi at the time.

Happy with the monthly salary of Dh2,500 offered to him by the Sharjah-based company, Kalesh mailed the documents and waited. After days when things failed to materialise and the tone of the company officials no longer sounded promising, he resumed his job hunt once again, Kalesh said.

He landed another job, went to India and came back to Abu Dhabi on the new company's visa on February 12, 2011.

Arrested at airport

"To my complete shock, I was arrested at the Abu Dhabi Airport, saying there is a criminal case against me. I was extremely worried… I was not sure what to make of it," Kalesh said.

After two days, he was brought to the Rashidiya police station in Dubai. "That's when I was told that a rent-a-car company filed a case against me for not paying the rental charges for a Mitsubishi Lancer I had rented from them and for not returning the car."

He denied the charges and told the investigators that the signature on the lease agreement was forged.

After a police forensic report proved his claim, the prosecutors released him from jail after withholding his passport as guarantee.

The case was later moved to the Sharjah Court of First Instance, where he was eventually acquitted months later.

During the whole time, Kalesh's new employer was supportive, although he was not able to stamp the new visa as his passport had been withheld.

Finally, last February, when he went with court papers proving his acquittal to get his passport back from the Rashidiya police station, he was taken aback, yet again.

"I was told that there is a similar case against me filed by another rent-a-car firm in Ras Al Khaimah."

"The most bizarre thing was that the Nissan Sunny car was rented in my name in March last year while I was still under police custody."

"But that made it easier, in a way, for me to explain the situation to the Ras Al Khaimah public prosecution," he said.

According to a document obtained by Gulf News, the RAK prosecution temporarily dismissed the case for lack of evidence and ordered the police to investigate further.

Passport for guarantee

Meanwhile, Kalesh was allowed to keep his friend's passport as guarantee and go on bail.

"Residents must be careful about giving their personal documents while hunting for a job," Sreedharan Prasad, community welfare convener at Sevanam, a licensed charity organisation in Ras Al Khaimah that helped Kalesh, said. "It is lack of awareness that often leads to such problems."

An Indian Consulate official said that if such documents are requested, they should be handed over to the human resources department of the company only after one-on-one interviews, and after the job is confirmed in writing.

Ras Al Khaimah Police is investigating the incident.