Indian man on tourist visa missing in UAE: report

Amrithalingam Samayamuthu, 46, a father of four from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, had come over to take up a job in the UAE, the Gulf News reported on Friday. Samayamuthu’s nephew Durai Maniraja, who is a fisherman in Ras Al Khaimah, said his uncle came with three people from Tamil Nadu on November 8.

An Indian man, who reached the UAE on a tourist visa to seek a job, has been missing since November 9, a media report has said. Amrithalingam Samayamuthu, 46, a father of four from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, had come over to take up a job in the UAE, the Gulf News reported on Friday.

Samayamuthu's nephew Durai Maniraja, who is a fisherman in Ras Al Khaimah, said his uncle came with three people from Tamil Nadu on November 8. "They stayed in accommodation in Hor Al Anz. His roommates said the next morning he went to the workplace. After he came back, they went for work at night," Durai was quoted as saying to the Gulf News. He said Samayamuthu was upset as he would be alone in the room and also wanted to go.

"But the others told him not to. There was no news about him later is what they told us," Durai said. Samayamuthu had not called home as he did not have a UAE SIM card. His brother-in-law Kannan Nagoorkani, a driver in Jebel Ali, said he approached the Al Muraqqabat Police Station to file a complaint on November 16.

When contacted by Gulf News, an executive of the company which Amritalingam had visited, said he was on a visit visa. He said Amrithalingam had not taken his passport or other belongings. The passport, which was given to the relatives, showed it was issued only on October 16, the report said. Relatives of Samayamuthu have appealed for help to the Indian mission in Dubai, which said that it has intervened into the matter.

A spokesperson of the Consulate said the mission had intervened in the case after receiving a complaint via a Tweet on Thursday. "We are getting in touch with the relatives and local authorities," he said. In October, the mission had warned Indians against flying in to Dubai to seek jobs on tourist/visit visas after several 'job seekers' of different nationalities were denied entry at the airport for not meeting visa requirements, the report said.

The Consulate had also given instructions to ensure that only genuine tourists come on tourist visas. "If you are on a particular visa category, you have to satisfy that you are a bona fide visa holder. No country will accept travelers without proper documents and those who do not fulfil the requirements. We have to respect the immigration authorities' rules and nobody should travel from India to the UAE on a visit or tourist visa looking for a job," the spokesperson, whose name was not mentioned in the report, said.