Pathanamthitta: Four youths from Kerala who had gone to Malaysia in search of jobs are facing the death penalty there on charges of holding contraband drugs, their relatives have said.
Sajith Sadanandan, of Pezhumkattil Kudappana near Chittar, in Pathanamthitta district; Aby Alex, of Koodathinkal, Edakadathy, in Kottayam district; Sumesh Sudhakaran of Sumesh Bhavan, Vennicode, Varakala, in Thiruvananthapuram district; and Ranjith Raveendran, of Ranjith Bhavan, Privanthoor, Pathanapuram, in Kollam district, are on death row after walking into a trap laid by the powerful drug syndicate in that country.
Sajith and his neighbour Sijo Thomas, who are welders by profession, landed in Malaysia on July 9, 2013. They were asked to pay Rs 1 lakh each for getting the visa by the recruitment agency run by brothers Anoop and Shajahan of Varkala. As per the agreement, they handed over Rs 50,000 to the agents and promised to pay the remaining amount after drawing the first salary. However, instead of welder jobs, the two were employed as cleaners at a plastic product manufacturing unit.
Their troubles started after the Malaysian police recovered drugs from the possession of their roommate and company driver Nagarajan, a Tamil Malaysian, during a raid on July 26, 2013. Along with the accused mentioned above, the police apprehended four other inmates of the apartment, Sijo Thomas, Ratheesh Rajan of Mavelikkara, Mohammed Kabeer Shafi of Varkala, and Shajahan of Chennai.
Subsequently, the cops conducted raids at their company and seized packets of narcotics. Following which Aby Alex, Ranjith Raveendran, Sumesh Sudhakaran, Sajith Sadanandan and Sargunan, a local employee, were arrested.
The families of the four Keralites came to know of their plight after Sijo Thomas, who walked free recently, met Sajith’s relatives. Apart from Sijo, two others – Ratheesh Rajan and Mohammed Kabeer Rafi – had also been set free by Malaysian authorities last December.
According to Sajith’s wife Akhila, news portals based in Malaysia had reported that four people, including Sajith, who were arrested in connection with the case, were handed the death sentence. “They were in Malaysia for only 16 days. We believe they could not prove their innocence due their inability to communicate in the local language. It is obvious that they were trapped by the agents,” said Akhila.
She has approached external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, the Indian Embassy in Malaysia, justice P Bhavadasan, head of the Non-Resident Keralites (NoRKs) commission, and Anto Antony, MP, seeking help to secure the release of the four Keralites, including her husband.
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