Jagran Post: New Delhi: Saturday,
May 04, 2013.
Over 6,500
Indian nationals are jailed in foreign countries, with a majority of them
lodged in the jails of the Gulf countries of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United
Arab Emirates. This is revealed in response to a Right to Information (RTI)
application.
In reply to a
RTI application filed by Subhash Chandra Agarwal dated April 4, 2013, the
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said there are 6,569 Indians held in jails
in 112 foreign countries.
"The
number of prisoners keeps changing," the ministry added.
According to
RTI findings, Saudi Arabia has 1,691 Indian prisoners, Kuwait 1,161 and United
Aran Emirates (UAE) 1,012.
"The
major cause of imprisonment in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were rape, robbery, drug
trafficking, fake iqamas (Islamic calls to prayer), immoral relationships,
traffic accidents and sale of liquor. The UAE , which has over 1,000 prisoners,
has not given the offence or allegation against the prisoners," the RTI
reply said.
Apart from
the Gulf countries, India's neighbours hold many Indians in prison. Pakistan
has 254 Indian prisoners, most of them fishermen; China has 157 Indians lodged
in its prisons, over charges like drugs or human trafficking, robbery and
forgery.
Nepal has
about 377 Indian prisoners, who face charges like kidnapping, possession of
illegal arms or drugs and theft. Bangladesh has 167 Indian prisoners.
While 112
countries had Indians lodged in jail, the ministry said it also did not receive
a "nil report" from 44 countries, so the numbers of Indian prisoners
abroad could be higher.
Other foreign
countries with a large number of Indian prisoners were Britain with 426; USA -
155, Malaysia - 187 and Singapore - 156.
.JPG)
.JPG)
