Malayalee from Saudi held back due to not paying back car loan flies home

DUBAI April 8: An Indian man in Saudi Arabia, who was barred from travelling over a car loan, has left the country after the community workers and the Consulate General of India in Jeddah helped lift his travel ban.

Rajan Palakkundu Parambil, from Malappuram district in Kerala, was employed by a contracting company in Najran, a city near Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen.

The firm ran into troubles with many workers leaving the company as a result of frequent missile attacks by the Houthi militias targeting civilians in the border regions of Narjan, Saudi Gazette reported.

“There are no words to describe my ordeal. I have been suffering every hour and every day for the last two years because I was not able to travel home,” Rajan said.

He said he did not know what to do but help finally came from the Indian consulate and the Indian community.

According to Rajan, his employer had bought a car in his name on installments for work-related purposes.

After short stint in Najran, Rajan moved to Jeddah to work for a different employer. The work went on normally without any problem.

However, when Rajan decided to return home for good he learned that he was placed under a travel ban and not allowed to leave the Kingdom without settling the outstanding amount for the car. Adding to his troubles, his visa expired.

The firm he had worked with earlier in Najran was caught in the recession and was almost non-existent.

The Indian community in Jeddah came together to bail him out with the support of the Indian consulate, which negotiated with the car dealer for leniency, the report said.

The car dealer agreed to settle for a less amount than he had earlier demanded in the court, it said.

Finally, after completing legal formalities Rajan flew home on Wednesday.