Five held for travelling with fake passports

The arrested are Bilal Khan (30) of Jayil village in Nagaur, Rajasthan; Stephen Raj of Kumarapuram, Tamil Nadu; Prasad Kumar (35) of Mangalore; Jabbar Sadiq (42) of Nagapattana district in Tamil Nadu; and Mohammed Noorullah Hoda (42) of Sivan in Bihar.

The five had gone to Saudi Arabia a few years ago on labour visa with dreams of making fortunes. But the dreams turned into nightmare when they realised they were pushed into slavery. Police suspected that they had fallen prey to a suspected human trafficking racket.

One Kafeel, who played a prominent role in taking these men to Saudi Arabia, seized their passports on arrival and made them work for meagre salaries. While Bilal and Noorullah worked as drivers, Stephen Raj and Prasad Kumar took care of a cow shed and Jabbar worked at a petrol bunk. Their pleas to Kafeel to return their passports fell in deaf ears.

Finally they came in contact with people who gave them fake passports. However, as the flight S A 786 landed in India from Jeddah, the immigration officers arrested them and booked them under section 419 and 420 of the IPC for cheating. Further investigations are on.