Representative image of a body
Credit: iStock Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: A Malayali was reportedly shot dead while trying to illegally enter Israel through Jordan.
Thomas Gabriel, 44, a native of Thumba in the coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram, is the latest victim of the illegal overseas recruitment and human trafficking from Kerala.
Another person, identified as Gabriel’s relative Edison, suffered a bullet injury on his leg, and was later deported.
Gabriel's family has received an email from the embassy confirming his death.
Recently, there have also been other reports about Malayalis, illegally recruited to Russia, also being killed in active war zones.
Illegal recruitments from coastal areas of the state are reportedly quite rampant.
Local sources said that Gabriel and Edison went to Jordan earlier this month, on February 5, on a tourist visa. They were said to be part of a four-member group that tried to cross the border into Israel, illegally. A local agent arranged their travel.
Gabriel and Edison, who were neighbours and relatives, were learnt to have left for Jordan without informing their families. They told their families that they were going to the Velankanni pilgrim centre in Tamil Nadu.
Gabriel is survived by his wife, Christeena.