33-year-old Dakshina Kannada Youth Chandrashekhar, a resident of Majoor of Athoor village Jailed in Saudi Arabia due to Hackers’ Online Fraud to Return to his hometown on Monday 20 November late in the evening at Mangaluru International Airport
Mangaluru: It would indeed be a happy homecoming to this young man who for no fault of his was jailed in Saudi Arabia for over a year, due to hackers’ online fraud, got relief from the Saudi Court to go back home after paying the required fines as per the order.
It is learnt that Riyadh police will escort the 33-year-old youth Chandrashekhar to the airport, to take a Mumbai flight, and he will reach Mangaluru International Airport on Monday 20 November 2023 late in the evening.
It should be noted that Chandrashekhar allegedly fell victim to online fraud, and languished at a jail in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for over a year. He was arrested after hackers allegedly used his credentials to open a bank account, and thereby made an illegal transaction in Riyadh. Chandrashekhar, who was working in Bengaluru was sent to Saudi Arabia after he was promoted in 2022. He was working in Alfanar Ceramics. He visited a shop in Riyadh to buy a mobile phone and SIM card. He had given his thumb impression on an application twice. After a week, he received a message on his mobile phone in Arabic language. Chandrashekhar had seen the same. After two days, he received a call and the person asked for his SIM details. Accordingly, Chandrashekhar had given the OTP to the caller. After a week, Chandrashekhar was arrested by Riyadh police.
Without knowing the consequences, he had shared the OTP. In November 2022, Saudi Arabian police arrested him for a banking fraud involving SAR 22,000 (approximately Rs 4.9 lakh. It was understood through his friends in Riyadh, that the fraudsters had created a bank account in Chandrashekhar’s name, using his documents. Chandrashekhar was busy with his work, and his marriage was also fixed for January 2023. However, police arrested him without giving him any notice. Later, his friends understood through official sources that SAR 22,000 was transferred from the bank account of a woman in Riyadh to the account that fraudsters created in Chandrashekhar’s name. The amount was immediately transferred from the account in Chandrasekhar’s name to an account in another country.
Following this, the woman filed a complaint, and the police arrested him. Chandrashekhar was allowed to speak only for two minutes on the phone per day. Even his friends in Riyadh were not allowed to meet him. Meanwhile, Chandrashekhar’s mother Hemavathi, a widow, has been seeking help from the district administration, people’s representatives and the ministry of External Affairs. Chandrashekhar’s friends in Riyadh have already spent nearly Rs 10 lakhs to appoint a lawyer and fight the case. They even sent appeals to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister for his early release. Union minister Shobha Karandlaje had also spoken to the external affairs minister regarding the matter,
Now, it is learnt that the company for which Chandrashekhar worked got alert after media reported that he was innocent, have joined hands for his release. Thanks to B R Arun from Madikeri and Kabeer from Mangaluru who had put in herculean efforts for the release of Chandrashekhar, and the family members of Chandrashekar will be overwhelmed and happy to meet and hug him once he arrives at MIA this evening.
