‘Leaving prescription at home led to Poojary’s arrest’

Mubarak, who is said to be responsible for the arrest of Shankar Poojary, from Basrur in Kundapur, in Kuwait by sending packets of medicines along with him to the West Asian country, said he is trying his best to get Poojary out of jail.

Speaking to reporters, Mubarak said that he had sent the medical prescription, bills and all necessary documents issued by KMC, Manipal, for the treatment of his mother-in-law Tasleem Fathima who is currently residing in Kuwait. She was treated in KMC before she left for Kuwait. When he came to know about Poojary leaving for Kuwait after the completion of his scheduled leave, he decided to seek his help in dispatching the packets of tablets to his mother-in-law. The tablets were purchased at Radha Medicals and the prescriptions were given to Poojary along with the tablets. Some home-made sweets were also sent along with the tablets, he added.

He said, that Poojary left the prescription and the bills of the tablets at home. He was arrested on June 13, 2018, as he was found with banned drugs without proper documents, and the tablets were banned in Kuwait.

Mubarak said that he came to know about the incident after 20 days. He added that he was called to Kundapur police station and the police instructed both the families to follow the suggestions given by one Gopal to solve the problem. Following which the medical certificates, prescriptions and the bills authenticating the purchase of the tablets were sent to the Indian embassy at Kuwait with the help of parliamentarians Shobha Karandlaje and Nalin Kateel.

Meanwhile, MADAD, the official website of Ministry of External Affairs, states Shankar Poojary is lodged in public jail of Kuwait on the charge of possessing Narcotic Substances. His family has been informed by the mission of “further course of action”.

Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi, president, Dr Ravindranath Shanbhag, has urged the Union government and the MEA to provide legal help tpo Poojary who has been languishing in Kuwait jail for no crime of his

In a press release, Shanbagh said, “Following the pressure by Jyothi, wife of Poojary, and several voluntary organisations, Mubarak approached the doctor at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, where his mother-in-law Tasleem Fathima was treated in 2015. The doctor at KMC refused to give any prescription without personally examining the patient. Later, Mubarak approached a doctor of a local nursing home at Udupi. who after much persuasion, wrote a prescription dated June 9 2018.”

All hell broke loose after an over enthusiastic social activist sent a copy of this prescription to Kuwait government. This act of an activist has only created more problem. How can the Kuwait police consider the authenticity of a prescription given by a doctor from India without physically examining the patient, who was very much in Kuwait on the day of prescription?, the human rights activist stated in the release.