Dubai: Seventeen men owing allegiance to a bootlegging gang, who were spared the death penalty after being involved in the murder of a member of a rival gang, returned to their home country on Tuesday after a travel ban imposed on them by a Sharjah court was lifted a few days ago.
The convicts, all Indians, had been found guilty of causing the death of a Pakistani during a clash with a rival gang in January 2009 in Sharjah. All the accused had initially been sentenced to death. Their case was taken up by the Indian government, which agreed to pay the legal costs.
A Dubai-based hotelier, S.P. Singh Oberoi, helped raise the blood money ordered by the court to secure the freedom of the convicted men. It may be recalled that a travel ban was imposed on the 17 men just hours before they were to travel home in 2011 and they were subsequently sent back to Sharjah Central Jail. The legal review came after two brothers who were allegedly injured in the incident filed a petition in court demanding compensation.
On January 17, the Sharjah Civil Court ordered the men to pay Dh100,000 to the brothers. Once the compensation was provided to the claimants, the travel ban was lifted, according to advocate Bindu S. Chettur, the defence lawyer.
The group of 17 men reached New Delhi on Tuesday morning and travelled to Amritsar in Punjab state from where most of them hail.
Source: Gulf News, February 13, 2013
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