Indian prisoners in Dubai refuse to be transferred to Indian jails, call them ‘hell’

SHARJAH - A 76-year-old prisoner, Vinayak, who is in a Dubai jail on drug charges, has said that he doesn’t want to go to India to serve his remaining term because prisons there are like “hell”.

According to Gulf News, Vinayak is among the scores of prisoners who may be given a chance to serve their remaining prison terms back in India.

The UAE and India are on the verge of finalising an agreement in which thousands of Indian prisoners here will be able to serve their terms back in Indian jails.

The response to this has been lukewarm as Indian prisoners in the UAE said they prefer to serve their jail sentence in Dubai and not in India, even though they would be near their families.

Vinayak is among five prisoners convicted of drug charges by a Dubai court and serving life terms in the country’s central jail. They have been in jail for 12 years now.

“I cannot go to Indian jails at this age, here they treat me well. The jail is clean and I am given health care,” he said.

Vinayak’s 82-year-old sister, he says, has repeatedly asked the Indian embassy to help him, but the only response they received was: wait.

Another Gujarati prisoner and Vinayak’s accomplice, 45-year-old Y.G., has said that he has been in jail from 1998 for dealing in drugs.

“I am one of five prisoners who are here for many years after being convicted in a drug related case, I prefer to finish my jail term in the UAE despite the fact that my partners and I were not included in two pardons but I still have faith in the generosity of people here,” he said.

He said he doesn’t want to be in Indian jail because his family approached the Indian authorities several times for help but got no response. (ANI)