MALAPPURAM: When he landed in Sharjah in 2019, Yakoob Akthar had only one dream - to end his family’s financial struggle. For a year, the Ponnani native worked at a food centre. Then he joined a Pakistani-owned company that delivers food for the online takeaway major, Talabat. And future looked promising for the 22-year-old.
However, Yakoob’s life turned upside down on a fateful day. Sharjah Municipality officials picked him up for delivering food in an area where his company was not authorised to operate. The municipality fined him AED 1,000.
Since it’s the responsibility of the company to secure the requried licences and permissions, he approached his employer and told him about the incident. The employer handed over a document, authorising his company to deliver food in the area, to Yakoob and he submitted it before the municipal authorities, who found the document to be fake. “My son was imprisoned for 43 days,” said Yakoob’s father Yusaf Valiyapeediyakkal. “He was put in jail on July 19, 2022, but we came to know about it only a week later,” he told TNIE.
Yusaf approached Norka Roots vice-chairman P Sreeramakrishnan seeking help. On his instructions, Norka officials and Malayali organisations in the UAE swung into action and got Yakoob released. Dubai-based activist Jafar Kerala said, “It is very difficult to get bail in forgery cases in the Gulf countries. We sought the help of Arabs in our circle to talk to the prison and municipal authorities. Lawyers demand hefty fees to appear for this type of case. However, a Malayali lawyer helped move the bail application.”