Mistaken identity costs man five days in prison

Abu Dhabi: In yet another case of mistaken identity, an Indian man was detained at the Sharjah Airport and taken into custody for five days after his name figured amongst the blacklisted ones at the immigration counter.
Ironically, the man Kharim Nazar Kharim was not even present in the country in 2003, when the name made it to the blacklist. It was after being booked that Nazar got to know the reason he was being detained for. An Indian with the same name had left the country in 2003 without clearing a Dh 37,000 etisalat bill.
Explaining that he came in to the country only in 2005 did no good to Nazar, nor the fact that his passport particulars were totally different from that of the man blacklisted on the immigration records.
After being detained at the airport, the police officials arrived early Saturday morning and Nazar was taken to the Sharjah jail. However, the case being registered in Abu Dhabi which meant that he had to be taken to the Shariah Court in Abu Dhabi before being released to freedom.
“Since Saturday was an official holiday, the trip to the capital did not happen. And to my ill luck the officials did not take me to the court on Sunday or Monday,” Nazar said. Finally, after Nazar’s relatives in Sharjah ran from pillar to post he was taken to the court on Tuesday. “Upon seeing my documents the first thing that the judge asked me was whether the immigration personnel checked my passport and all the particulars as it had nothing in common with the man who was blacklisted. The only reason I was jailed was because my name matched with the person, who left the country even before I came,”
Explaining that this could happen to anyone, Nazar said that the mental trauma and strain he went through will not heal anytime soon in the future.
15/04/07 Daijiworld.com

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Categories: Foreign Apr 2007