Nineteen Indian mi-

grants scammed by a

labour r e c r u i t m e n t

agency are stranded in

Saudi Arabia.

Anwar General Services

Corporation, a labour re-

cruitment agency based in

Mumbai, approached men

nationwide with promises

of jobs in Saudi Arabia for

which they collected an ini-

tial payment of about one

lakh each.

Mohammed Shihabhe

Naizam, from Nelaman-

gala, Bangalore along with

three other men collected

money mostly from vil-

lagers in Andhra Pradesh

and Mangalore.

A case was filed against

them in the Hyderabad Po-

lice station earlier this year.

The sub agents were all ar-

rested but Shihabhe’s cur-

rent whereabouts are

unknown.

Boga Naveen, a tailor

from Morthad village,

Andhra Pradesh said, “I

paid them Rs65,000 for the

job they promised. They

guaranteed a reasonable

salary plus incentives but

the company failed to pro-

vide a residence or work

permit which forced us to-

wards illegal labour.

“I was eventually caught

and jailed for two months

in Daman 91 prison.

“We were assured work

in Saudi based Afnan Al-

Mashriq Contracting and

Catering Service establish-

ment managed by Moham-

mad Shihab Naizam, the

mastermind behind the

racket. I went there a year

ago and returned six

months ago.

“I worked as an electri-

cian for two months and I

was not paid. After that I

was arrested by the Saudi

police and imprisoned,” he

added.

“We had to face a lot of

trouble during that period.

We were given only one

meal a day and had to share

one plate with ten people,”

he said. He claims that it

was a horrifying experience

and doesn’t want to com-

ment further about his time

in jail.

“I am now employed as

a coolie. and broke and bor-

rowed money from a loan

shark for my visa. My fam-

ily sold the land we had and

bailed me out but the rest

of the migrants were less

fortunate. They went there

as a last resort to escape

poverty but now they are

working in Saudi prisons at

meagre wages for the bail

amount,” he said.

Khadar Alake, owner of

AFIFA travel agency based

in Mangalore, said “We

cleared Shihab’s papers

when he first went to Saudi.

He approached us later

with a proposition of 30

vacancies in his company

that needs to be occupied.

“We were asked to recruit

the men but we just cleared

the paperwork for their

passports and visas for a

sum of 30,000 per head.”

“His fraud was later re-

vealed as we came to know

that the men sent abroad

were cheated of their

money and were forced to

work without work permits.

“We incurred a loss of

two and a half lakhs and se-

vere defamation by associ-

ating with him.

“They say he is in Saudi

but we have no clue how he

left the country while facing

criminal charges,” he added.

Shaik Chand Pasha, so-

cial worker and president

of an NGO, Gulf Return-

ing Members Welfare Soci-

ety (GRMWS) took up the

cause. He contacted the

embassy in Riyadh and the

protector general of emi-

grants.

It is stated in the letter

from Mr. Pasha to the In-

dian embassy in Riyadh that

he has gained over 20 lakhs

through employment fraud.

He said “These emi-

grants go to the Middle

East mostly for manual

labour, they are illiterate

and do not know how to

approach the embassy

when caught in such scams.

“They face a language and

often their Arab employers

severely abuse them. There

have been many such in-

stances over the years and

this is not an isolated inci-

dent.”

N.C Chauhan, of the

labour and welfare depart-

ment of the Indian em-

bassy, said: “We have

responded with a letter to

the recruitment agency

based in Mumbai with in-

structions to contact their

Arab employer and resolve

the grievances of the In-

dian emigrants. Failure to

will result in the immediate

intervention of the ministry

of overseas affairs.”

Despite repeated at-

tempts, Mohammad Shihab

Naizam refused to respond.

ObserverVolume 14 | Issue 5 Thursday, September 11, 2014

The Weekly

Saudi jobs scam leaves 19 stranded

Agnivesh Harshan

BRIEFS

HIV positive

children face

abuse incidentsChildren affected

with HIV are sub-

jected to different

types of abuse..

Page 2

Rehab plans for

evictees on holdThe eviction of

slum dwellers is

facing fresh con-

troversy with cam-

paigners claiming

a lot of families

are yet to receive a

rehabilitation

package.

Page 3

Cops send

scooter theft

victim traffic

fine

A student who

received a traffic

fine three months

after she reported

her scooter stolen

was shown an

image of the thief

riding her bike.

Page 4

Boga Naveen was duped

City businessman missing as police launch probe into ghost jobs.

Shihabhe Naizam,

accused of stealing 20

lakh in work scam

HIV positive children face abuse incidents

Children affected with

HIV are subjected to dif-

ferent types of abuses by

their family after their

parents pass away.

“Preethy (name

changed) was not taken care

of by her paternal aunt.

When we saw her, she was

11 years -old and weighed

11 kg with a bleak CD4

count of 9. She also had de-

veloped acute TB,” said

Manoj Joseph, Programme

manager of Sneha Care

Home.

“We rescued her during

a community based pro-

gram which we do in col-

laboration with the

Karnataka government.

During this programe we

found that she was missing

her medication and went

looking for her,” he added.

The doctor advised to

put her under palliative

treatment.

However, the child al-

ways murmured that she

wanted to live more. Within

few days her condition im-

proved and she recovered

in another two months.

Now she is doing well at

Sneha Care Home.

Manoj said, “HIV af-

fected children are consid-

ered a burden by their fam-

ily after their parents pass

away.”

He explained another in-

cident where Lekha (name

changed) in Gulbarga dis-

trict was ‘sold off ’ to mar-

riage at the age of 13 to a

person older than her fa-

ther. After a few months, an

NGO involved in anti-traf-

ficking rescued her from

Pune. During the coun-

selling she said that she was

sold off to a brothel by her

husband and was forced to

attend 15-20 clients daily.

“Manohar (name

changed) hails from

Anathapura district ran

away from home and

reached Bangalore where

he was involved in some

crimes and caught by the

police. Then, from the De-

partment of Women and

Child Development he was

brought to our NGO but

he misbehaved badly. When

his behavior reached be-

yond control he was sent

back to WCD.” he added

Manoj also said,“We can

prevent HIV from affecting

the children through their

mothers at the time of

pregnancy. We are working

towards achieving the com-

plete prevention of HIV

amongst children in an-

other 15 years.”

Father Vince Mathew,

Director of Snehadaan

Care and Support Centre

for HIV/AIDS, said “In

rural areas, the girls with

HIV positive are treated as

a burden and are married

off at a young age without

knowing the background

of the person. But, this per-

son will in turn sell the child

to the flesh trade and as

time passes they become

very meek and are thrown

out of the business.”

“The reason a child is

considered a burden is be-

cause of the lack of proper

facility and resources in the

rural areas. If the govern-

ment can provide them

with better facilities then

this situation can be curbed

to a large extent.” he added.

Despite a fanfare of pub-

licity only 200 of 65,000

auto drivers have under-

gone training via an ini-

tiative launched by

Bangalore Police and an

NGO.

The Bangalore Traffic

Police say that combined ef-

forts of traffic police and

NGOs have led to a de-

crease in the cases against

auto drivers by 75%, this

year.

According to the statis-

tics provided by traffic po-

lice, cases registered against

auto drivers have reduced

from 24, 669 in 2013 to

6,261 till September this

year.

Traffic Police Manage-

ment Centre collaborated

with an NGO, Peace Auto,

which works to create

awareness.

However, the number

of trained personnel has

reached only to 200 trained

auto drivers but surprisingly

the cases registered have

gone down by 75%.

Anil Shetty, founder,

Peace Auto said, “There are

65,000 registered autos in

the city, it is not possible to

train all of them but we try

to reach maximum number

through our regular aware-

ness and reward functions.”

The Rajadhani Auto

Driver Union leader Hasan

Sharif, said, “I have not

heard of the NGO named

Peace Auto but relations

with traffic police have

been moderate for a while.”

B.C. Kanaka Kumar, As-

sistant Commissioner, Traf-

fic Police said, “The

personnel deployed near

signals assist the auto driv-

ers, but an awareness pro-

gram by Peace Auto have

yielded good results.”

Arundhati, who com-

mutes for 10-12 kms daily

said, “It is easier to deal

with auto drivers these days.

In case of complaints, we

can call the traffic police

helpline with the details

mentioned on driver’s dis-

play cards. I have not no-

ticed any changes with their

behavior though.”

Punita Maheshwari

Aadhira Anandh

An auto driver who works with Peace Auto

Foundation

HIV positive chidren at Sneha Care Home

The Weekly Observer Thursday, September 11, 20142

Auto drivers lack training despite NGO efforts

A recent survey by Victo-

ria Hospital revealed that

20 bodies were found on

the footpath around KR

Market in the past 10

days.

“There is at least one or

two bodies found on foot-

paths every day,” said Na-

garaj, who works at the

mortuary of Victoria Hos-

pital.

Abishek Goyal, Deputy

Commissioner of Police

(Crime Department) said,

“We don’t have any infor-

mation about deaths on the

footpath, as we have never

investigated the issue be-

fore.” Asma, who has been

living under a flyover at KR

Market for 20 years, said,

“We face many health prob-

lems in the rainy season and

it is difficult to get treated

from a government hospital

as we don’t have an ID

proof. The authorities re-

fused to give me an identity

proof as I don’t have a per-

manent shelter.

“Many people have died

on the footpath due to in-

fection and hunger. Offi-

cials from Victoria hospital

would come and take away

their bodies,” she added

Amir Unnisa, a beggar

who has had a leg infection

for over a month, said, “I

get food from the people

who come to the mosque.

But at times a large crowd

of beggars surrounds them

and because of my infected

right leg I can’t run to get

the food.”

“I don’t go to the hospi-

tal as I have no money and

I am scared that they will

sell my body parts,” she

added.

Sevanthi, another beggar

under the flyover, said: “I

am scared of drunkards

and thieves. We have to stay

awake all night or else they

will steal our clothes and

food. No one wants to stay

on streets, but we are help-

less and we have no other

option.”

“We get beaten up by

the police as we are not al-

lowed to stay here,” said

Mangal, who is a daily wage

earner at fruit market. He

works for eight hours and

earns Rs. 40 a day. He has

been living under the fly-

over for 10 years.

Ashwath Narayan, Ward

Councilor of KR market,

said, “I went to the market

many times but I couldn’t

find any homeless around.

If they come to the ward

and explain their problems,

I will definitely pay heed to

them.”

The eviction of slum

dwellers of the Jai Bhu-

vaneshwar Nagar is fac-

ing fresh controversy

with campaigners claim-

ing a lot of families are

yet to receive a rehabilita-

tion package.

According to the Alter-

nate Law Forum, only 512

families out of 870 families

have been rehabilitated so

far, despite claims by the

Karnataka Slum Clearance

Board that all had been re-

housed.

ALF had already sub-

mitted an affidavit regard-

ing the rehabilitation

package due to the 378

families.

The decision is still

pending before the slum

board.

But Mr. Sashidhar, Ex-

ecutive Officer of Slum

Clearance Board, dismissed

it. “We are aware of this sit-

uation raised by Alternative

Law Forum. But, they need

to give us some concrete

proof to back their claim.”

“During the eviction we

found that slum dwellers

were demolishing their own

houses before moving to

Kudlu and blamed the gov-

ernment for it,” he added.

Mr. Murgaya, Chief En-

gineer of the Slum Clear-

ance Board said, “The

government had offered re-

habilitation package to only

those families who were liv-

ing there for the last ten

years.”

Managing Director of

National Institute of Men-

tal Health and Neuro Sci-

ences (NIMHANS) lodged

a case claiming the property

belonged to NIMHANS.

The residents of Jai

Bhuvaneshwari Nagar were

staying there for the last 60

years. But, it was only 10

years back when they got

to know it wasn’t a regis-

tered slum.

The Samata Sainaka

Dala is claiming that the

district collectorate had

asked the slum dwellers,

who didn’t receive any reha-

bilitation package, to get a

written statement from the

Slum Clearance Board ask-

ing for one acre of land.

But, the slum board is re-

fusing to comply.

In the meantime some

of these residents have

moved out with others to

Kudlu, where they were re-

habilitated. But even there,

they are living on the

streets.

Manoj (name changed),

a member of one of the

families who didn’t receive

any rehabilitation package

said, “We are living on the

streets. We cannot afford

the rented house as they ask

for an advance of 1 lakh.

We also have to spend Rs.

3,000 for transport every

month.”

Kavitha (name changed)

a resident of Kudlu where

they have been rehabilitated

said, “The government

promised us a sum of Rs.

2,000 for the transportation

but, we had to pay it from

our pocket.” she added.

Mrs. Santha Mary, a

member of Samata Sainaka

Dala, said, “The discrep-

ancy lies because the survey

done by the government

was four years old when the

slum had 512 houses.”

Pulaha Roy

Elizabeth Mani

Amir Unnisa has lived under the flyover for 10 years

Jai Bhuvaneshwari Nagar after the eviction

Rehab plans for evictees on hold

Two bodies a day found on Bangalore's footpaths

The Weekly Observer Thursday, September 11, 2014 3

Santha Mary, activist

The city last year

recorded the highest

number of power thefts

since 2011.

According to a recent in-

spection in Bangalore, a

total of 3,474 power thefts

were detected which levied

25.31 crore penalty in 2013-

14. In total there was a 34%

increase this year in Banga-

lore.

In 2012-13, Karnataka

Power Transmission Cor-

poration Limited detected

2,335 cases and in 2011-12

they detected 1,306 cases all

over Bangalore.

The vigilance wing re-

covered 12.23 crore from

theft cases alone for differ-

ent cases of Bangalore.

There are almost 15 types

of power theft cases, as told

by the KPCTL official.

According to Vish-

wanathan. R .Salankey, Ex-

ecutive Engineer, Vigilance

wing, KPTCL, there are 15

types of power theft cases

including using remote con-

trol device, by bypassing

meter using spare, by tam-

pering seals & meter and

many more.

“These days people are

discovering new processes

for power theft and that is

why the number is increas-

ing,” he added.

During the inspection by

KPTCL in 2013-14, it was

found that Gulbarga tops in

the power theft cases.

According to a

BESCOM official, “Re-

cently five crore penalty was

imposed on Karnataka

Slum Clearance Board for

power theft for last one and

half years. This year till now

it is the biggest amount of

penalty imposed. ”

Despite having repetitive

attempt some officials of

Karnataka Slum Clearance

Board, they refused to

speak about this issue.

The call was cut as the

question was asked about

the blame they recieved for

stealing power.

According to the

sources, after the inspec-

tion, officials and police

takes bribe to close the case.

That is why we can not get

the proper amount of

penalty from the discrepan-

cies detected.

The power thieves have

to be punished under sec-

tion 136 and 138, said a

KPTCL official. According

to section 136 and section

138 of Electricity Act, the

theft of electricity and in-

terference with meters are

punishable crime, respec-

tively.

To make people cautious

KPCTL give advertisement

through social media, elec-

tronic media. and print

media. They also use hoard-

ings.

The Weekly Observer Thursday, September 11, 20144

A student who received

a traffic fine three

months after she re-

ported her scooter

stolen was shown an

image of the thief riding

her bike.

In October 2013, 21

year-old Keerthilakshmi,

lost her two-wheeler in

Gandhi Sahitya Nagar,

Malleswaram. After the

theft she immediately went

to the Malleswaram Police

Station to file a complaint

of theft on the same day.

She went to the police

station in December 2013

to see if there were any up-

dates on the case. The po-

lice informed her that the

case has been closed be-

cause there was not enough

data to work on.

On March 2014, she got

an automated update by the

Bangalore Traffic Police

website saying she has to

pay fine for the traffic rules

violated in on 30th January

2014.

She went to the police

station with the photos gen-

erated from the CCTV

camera. The police said that

the two departments work

individually. They referred

her to BTP to enquire. The

BTP told her it was not

their duty to give informa-

tion to the police to retrieve

the stolen vehicle.

M.N. Nagaraj, Police In-

spector of Malleswaram

Police Station said, “The

two departments do share

data but it gets very difficult

to keep a check on what is

being uploaded on the site.”

BTP said, “We share

data regarding these issues

but it is difficult to coordi-

nate sometimes. We share

data with the police only

when they ask for it.”

The data available with

Bangalore Traffic Police is

not being used by the police

department to solve crimes

because of lack of coordi-

nation.

She filed an FIR against

the person (circled) in the

picture with her vehicle in

March 2014.

The data generated from

the CCTV cameras at the

traffic signals is being used

by the BTP to send the sys-

tem updates to the regis-

tered owners but the police

do not use this data.

The police department

said that in 2012, 49 cases

of stolen vehicle was

recorded out of which eight

were false and only seven

were recovered.

In 2013, 41 cases were

reported and six of them

were false and out of 35,

five were recovered. In

2014, 22 cases are reported

till date, of which 18 vehi-

cles have already been re-

covered.

Cops send scooter theft victim traffic fine

Power poles are rou-

tinely targeted in thefts

Aparna Singh

Asmita Kundu

OBSERVER Team: Editor - Punita Maheshwari, Chief Sub-Editor - Aadhira Anandh, News Editor - Darshan Rane, News Desk - Nikunj Ohri,

Sub Editors - Kimaya Varude, Pulaha Roy, Natasha Singh, Designer - Devdatta Sukhdev, Layout Desk - Aparna Singh, Nikhil M.Babu,

Photo Editor - Asmita Kundu, Proof Reader - Elizabeth Mani, Reporters - Divya Kishore, Apoorva Choubey

Spike in electricity theft cases

The thief with the stolen vehicle caught on CCTV