Fake agencies in Hyderabad ruin Gulf dreams

Jeddah: An MBA graduate from Hyderabad, who arrived in Saudi Arabia in search of employment, is stranded in the country after he was allegedly cheated by an agent in Hyderabad.

Ponnaboyina Swamy (28), resident of Ramnagar, was recently released from a jail. He said a recruiting agency in Hyderabad, which promised him a management job, cheated him by sending him as a domestic help, which he refused to do.

According to Swamy, he arrived in Saudi Arabia after paying Rs 1 lakh to an agent in Hyderabad who had promised him a plum job in the oil-rich kingdom.

Narrating his plight, he said: “I have realised only after reaching Saudi Arabia that I was cheated. I was forced to work as domestic help. I refused to do the job and my employer told me that he had spent SR 6,000 (nearly Rs 1 lakh) on recruiting me and demanded that only after paying the amount, he would send me back to India,” he said.

He said it was difficult to escape



from the clutches of the employer and finally managed to escape after several failure attempts and reached capital Riyadh to contact Indian Embassy.

“I approached Riyadh Police for seeking help to repatriate me back home but I was shocked and puzzled as they detained me on a theft complaint,” he said.

“Infuriated over my escape, my employer lodged a complaint accusing me of stealing a television set which is not true. After spending five months in detention first in Riyadh and later in Dammam, I was released after paying SR 10,000 as compensation for the crime which I did not commit,” he said.

He revealed that his father sold ancestral property for securing his release.

Swamy was released on January 7 by the court but still his name has not been cleared by authorities to enable travel.

Though he is out of jail now, he is clueless about his return to India.