Alappuzha native Santosh Kumar and Shajahan of Nilamel in Kollam are imprisoned at Sumail Central Prison in Oman. Muscat: Two men from Kerala have been languishing in Oman jail for the last 20 years for alleged theft.
Alappuzha native Santhosh Kumar and Shajahan of Nilamel in Kollam are imprisoned at Sumail Central Prison in Oman. They were arrested after two Pakistanis robbed a business institution using a gas cutter brought from the shop where they were working.
On October 3, 1997 some Pakistanis came to the shop and brought the gas cutter. On the same night, the Pakistanis killed two guards of a nearby business establishment and committed a big robbery. The police traced the origin of the gas cutter and arrested Shahjahan and Santosh. The Pakistanis who committed the robbery were also arrested and awarded death sentence. Santosh and Shahjahan, who were accused of abetting the crime, were given life sentence.
Santhosh was only 24 when he was arrested. Twenty years of prison life has left him an ailing man.
When Shajahan was arrested, his daughter Shaima was just a three-year-old toddler. Twenty years since, his daughter has no recollection of having ever seen her father.
Their families knocked many doors for help but to no avail.
Another Alappuzha resident Habib Rahman is now trying his best to get them released. Though Habib had approached social organizations in Oman for help, they were reluctant to interfere in this case. The two are still languishing in the jail even at the end of their term.
