25-year-old killed in Dubai, kin cry foul

Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 15

Crying foul over the death of a 25-year-old Punjabi youth killed in an accident in Dubai on April 19 last year, an Amritsar-based family on Monday sought the Central Government’’s intervention in getting the case solved.

At a press conference in Jalandhar, Bikramdeep Singh, the elder brother of deceased Amandeep Singh, said even after a year, the Dubai Police had failed to nab the driver.

He said after the incident, a woman had called the family and assured them of getting the blood money.

The family, without checking the credentials of the anonymous caller, sent Amandeep Singh’s death certificate and a power of attorney (POA) to her in August last year, giving her the authority to collect and encash cheques, including account payee cheques, demand drafts and even the compensation. Bikramdeep said the woman had now refused to hand them the money. “She says she has not received the amount from the UAE Government and even offered to send our papers back,” the victim’’s brother said.

The family said the lawyer might have received the compensation amount of Rs 37 lakh on behalf of the family.

The blood money called “Diya” is a penalty for death, and not compensation. It is fixed at Rs 37 lakh for loss of life and is only given if the victim has in no way contributed to the accident.

The family even tried to contact the UAE Embassy in Delhi, but that too didn’’t help. “The police failed to nab the man who killed my son. All they sent was his body and passport,” said deceased’’s mother Baljit Kaur.

Amandeep had gone to Dubai through two Amritsar-based agents who later hired him as a driver in their transport company there. While the deal was sealed at Rs 1.60 lakh, the family paid Rs 80,000 and assured the agents to pay the remaining amount in Dubai.