It has been confirmed that one man among those five Indians whose mortal remains were found buried in an isolated farm in Safwa, Qatif, coming under the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was a native of Kottarakara, near here.
As per the residence card found at the burial site, the man from Kottarakara was identified as Abubakkar, 43. He worked as a chauffeur at a Saudi national’s house. He had reached Safwa four-and-a-half years ago and for the past four years his family members at Kottarakara had lost contact with him.
The bodies were found by chance when a man who had taken the farm on lease from a woman was preparing it for rearing crops. On the basis of confessions made last Wednesday before the Qatif Court by three persons arrested in connection with the incident, the five were killed in March, 2010.
According to the Saudi Arabia-based English newspaper Arab News , the Eastern Province police arrested 25 people in connection with the killing and they include expatriates and citizens of Saudi Arabia. The newspaper quoting sources said that the five had been tortured for several hours and then buried alive.
According to confessions made by one of those arrested, the immediate reason for the brutal killing was that one among the five killed had sexually harassed his sponsor’s daughter and other women. All the five were buried in a pit that was 2.5 metres deep after tying them with ropes and gagging them with adhesive tapes.
Arab News reports that the mortal remains had ropes around the arms and legs and the mouth areas had duct tape. The man who leased the farm told the police that it was deserted and contained a lot of trash. While cleaning the farm, he dug up a thighbone which he initially thought was that of an animal.
One from KanyakumariThe Saudi police are now taking steps to scientifically confirm Abubakkar’s identity through a DNA test by taking the blood samples of his brother who is also employed in Saudi Arabia. There are unconfirmed reports that one of the bodies is that of a man from Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.
