Sailors In Gujarat Crowdfund To Bail Out Colleague From Iran; Pays Rs 47 Lakh Penalty
The two colleagues, Ibrahim Razak Sap, and Sajid Umar Sumra were released in February this year along with several prisoners on grounds of mercy. Thaim was stuck due to the discrepancy in paperwork.
A Gujarati sailor from Mandvi in Kutch, Umar Saleh Mohammad Thaim, 47, walked out free from the Minab jail in Iran on Monday after four years of struggle.
Apart from his family and employer, it was an impromptu act of generosity by 250-odd sailors, most of them strangers to Thaim, which finally secured his freedom from incarceration in a foreign land.
The sailors, rich and poor, pledged Rs 500-Rs 20,000 to add up to Rs 11.50 lakh, which formed a major component of the Rs 46.50 lakh fine imposed on Thaim as a condition for his release. His family of five brothers pooled in Rs 15 lakh while his employer committed Rs 20 lakh.
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Kasam Jafrabadi, former president of Kutch Vahanvata Association, told TOI that Thaim's family shared with him their dilemma of falling short of funds critical to his release. He shared it with an influential sailor in Mandvi, Abu Bakr Pathan.
¡°Pathan formed a WhatsApp group and sent an SOS message to all sailors. In five hours flat, Rs 11.50 lakh was raised. We were overwhelmed by such an unprecedented outpour of kindness," says Jafrabadi.
"Our brother is coming home, finally. It is thanks to Allah and generosity of fellow brethren that Umar will unite with his wife and four children soon," said sailor's elder brother Noor Mohammad. Younger brother Ibrahim secured Thaim's release on Monday.
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Thaim was detained by Iranian navy on August 4, 2014, when he and his two associates took shelter on Iran coast due to bad weather while returning from Dubai in their cargo ship to Eden in Yemen. He was accused of smuggling diesel and illegal intrusion.
The two colleagues, Ibrahim Razak Sap, and Sajid Umar Sumra were released in February this year along with several prisoners on grounds of mercy. Thaim was stuck due to the discrepancy in paperwork.
Later, a fine of Rs 58 lakh was imposed which was reduced to Rs 46.5 lakh. The family knocked on doors of all concerned ministries in the state and country to secure his release.
