After 5 Years in Taiwan Prison, Chennai Man Seeks Justice

After serving nearly five years in a Taiwan prison on charges of smuggling narcotics, a city resident had sought police action against two men who sent him to the foreign country with the promise of a job and used him as a carrier for the contraband without his knowledge.

Akbar Batcha, a resident of Triplicane, on Monday lodged a complaint against one Faizal and another unidentifiable man.

“I was desperately looking for a job abroad in 2007 when Faizal promised to help me. He said there are good job opportunities in Taiwan and even footed my travel expenses. But on arrival, he asked me to hand over a flower bouquet to a man  at the Taiwan airport. I realised that I was being used as a carrier only when the Taiwan officials told me that I had smuggled narcotic substances,” Batcha said.

He said he was convicted by a court there for 10 years and to come out early after a court accepted his mercy pleas.

“In prison, I met several people who said they were similarly sent by Faizal. They all said they were unaware that they had been used as carriers,” he said.

Though he returned to India in February, Batcha said he had come forward to lodge the complaint now as recently, cine actress Radha also lodged a complaint against Faizal.

Akbar Batcha said that he was coming out in public as he did not want others to get cheated by Faizal.