TN engineer who set sail to Okha from Iran was desperate to meet ailing father: Police | Rajkot News

A mechanical engineer from Coimbatore, Ashokkumar was detained as he entered the Okha fishing harbour on board a dinghy in the early hours of September 26. Three other men, Mustafa Baluchi (38), Jashem Baluchi (25) and Amirhussain Baluchi (19) — all claiming to be Iranian nationals — were also detained.

“Our investigations have revealed that the engineer had indeed made the voyage from Iran to Okha on board that small boat only. The story has been corroborated with technical evidence and cross interrogation,” Devbhumi Dwarka Superintendent of Police (SP) Nitish Pandey told The Indian Express.

The police had also arrested Ashokkumar’s younger brother Anandkumar Muthurela (35). Anandkumar had flown from Oman to Rajkot via Mumbai to reach Okha to his elder sibling.

After spending seven days on police remand that ended on October 6, the five men are currently in judicial custody.

The dinghy, which the police say is of Iranian make, was loaded with 29 cans with a capacity to store 70 litres of petrol each. “The cans occupied almost all the space on the boat and the four men spread some shawls and sat on them. They ate dry fruits and chilled items during their four-day-long voyage that began on September 23 and ended at Okha on September 26,” says Prashant Shingarakhiya, police inspector of SOG of Devbhumi Dwarka and the investigating officer (IO) in the case.

The police have lodged a case against Ashokkumar and the three ‘Iranians’ under Indian Passport Act, Foreigners Act and Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act as they had seized 10 grammes of heroin worth Rs 5.01 lakh from Mustafa.

In his statement to the police, Ashokkumar has said that he had gone to Muscat in Oman in 2011 and set up a fuel station in partnership with a local Omani and was also dealing in aeronautical parts. Quoting him, the police say Ashokkumar invested his earnings from the fuel station into a venture associated with gas-fired power plants but his businesses suffered losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“He suffered losses in the fuel business and could not recoup his investment in the other venture due to the disruption caused by the pandemic. Consequently, he couldn’t pay his Omani partner the latter’s share of revenue from the fuel station. Therefore, the Omani partner demanded Ashokkumar’s passport as a surety. Meanwhile, Ashokkumar’s elderly father fell ill in Tamil Nadu. Therefore, he wanted to come to India but his Omani partner refused to return the passport,” Shingarakhiya said.

Ashokkumar has also told the police that he approached Indian authorities in Muscat with a request to help but did not receive any immediate response. In his desperation to return to India, he crossed the Gulf of Oman on board a boat and reached Shiraz town in southwestern Iran, the police say.

“He stayed in Iran for two months and Dr Hussain, a plastic surgeon based in Shiraz, helped him. He says that he and Dr Shiraz met Indian officers in Tehran, the capital of Iran, and requested them to help him return to India. But he didn’t receive instant assistance. In his desperation, Ashokkumar then decided to land on the Indian coast via the sea route without the valid travel documents. His plan was to plead for help once he was in India,” the IO said.

Police said that Dr Hussain decided to help Ashokkumar as they were acquaintances. “The Tamil Nadu engineer had a hair-transplant procedure done at Dr Hussain’s clinic. He had also received treatment for some skin-related issue. Therefore, they had become friends. The doctor helped Ashokkumar thinking in return he would help him financially to set up a big hospital,” Shingarakhiya said, quoting Ashokkumar’s police statement.

Police said the doctor put Ashokkumar in touch with Mustafa, a fisherman in the Iranian port town of Jask and helped him purchase a satellite phone and the dinghy. “During interrogation, Mustafa stated that he had never sailed to the Indian coast before but accepted the task of captaining the boat to bring Ashokkumar to the Indian shores as he had five million Iranian Rial to repay and Ashokkumar had offered him around Rs 35 lakh that was equivalent to nearly 1,771 million Iranian Rial,” Shingarakhiya said, adding Mustafa then hired Jashem and Amirhussain as his assistants for the voyage and relied on a basic GPS device, boating apps and online maps to reach Okha.

“Usually, it takes about two days to reach  India from Iran via the sea. However, the engine of the boat captained by Mustafa encountered a technical snag at sea. This increased the voyage duration,” the IO said, adding, “Their plan was that the three Iranians would return to Iran after dropping Ashokkumar. However, they needed 2,000 litres of petrol for the return voyage and requested Anandkumar to arrange for that amount of fuel in Okha.”

Ashokkumar also told police that he was facing pressure from his own family in Oman. “He says that while in Oman, he got married to an Egyptian woman. However, the couple separated and divorced eventually. The woman returned to Egypt with their daughter. He says that his former wife had been asking him to go to Egypt and take custody of their daughter or else she would send her to an orphanage in Egypt.”