Dubai: An Indian expatriate in the UAE, who has not seen his family for nearly 35 years, will soon be reunited with his brothers back home.
Jai Singh |
Jai Singh, 67, had lost contact with his family over the years and three years back, due to being an illegal, he ended up in jail.
Singh, who speaks only Marathi and broken Arabic, has forgotten the contact details of his brothers back home.
After his case was notified by the jail authorities to the Indian Consulate in Dubai for assistance for his deportation once he completes his jail term, the consulate tracked down his family in Maharahstra, India.
Consul-General of India in Dubai Vipul told Gulf News that officials at the mission worked for two months to establish the identity of Jai Singh and connect him with his family in Thane, near Mumbai. “It was one of the most challenging jobs for them,” he said.
When he was brought to the mission on Tuesday to receive an emergency exit out-pass, Singh spoke to a consulate employee in Marathi and said he was eagerly waiting to see his brothers.
Rajesh Ranjan, Vice-consul, Passport, who helped track down Singh’s family, said the man had initially worked as a newspaper delivery boy in the first seven to eight years of his stay in the UAE.
“Apparently, there was some salary dispute and he lost that job. Then he took up running errands to make ends meet. He could not renew his visa [due to his loss of job] and he also lost his passport. Finally, he was arrested for overstaying in the country. With great difficulty, we managed to contact his family,” said Ranjan.
Singh, who is unmarried, is currently lodged in an Abu Dhabi jail and would be deported from there.
Speaking to Gulf News from India on Wednesday, Singh’s younger brother, Bhagat Singh, 64, said his brother had come to Dubai in 1978. “Our parents had died before he left for the UAE. He came to see us only once, that was in 1980 or 82, I don’t remember the exact year.”
He said his brother used to call home once in a while till some years back. “Whenever we asked him about when he would come home, he would say it is difficult because he had lost his passport and other papers. Gradually, his calls stopped and there had been no information about him for the past few years.”
Singh’s nephew, Rajinder Singh, a 28-year-old taxi driver who has never seen his uncle, said everyone in the family was happy to know that his uncle was alive and would be coming home.
“His elder brother is 75 years now. He lives in Uttar Pradesh. He comes here once in every year. I am sure he will come running when his younger brother comes down from Dubai after all these years,” said the nephew.
Ranjan said this was the second similar case in the past two months wherein the mission helped reunite an imprisoned citizen with his family.
“A month ago, we helped trace the family of Syrus Roni, 44, also from Maharashtra, after he served 15 years in jail.”
He said Roni, also a bachelor, had also lost his documents and was eagerly waiting to see his ailing mother who was on her deathbed.
