Telangana man who stranded in gulf returns home after 16 years

A man named Neela Yellaiah, a native of Kamareddy district returned home after 16 years and reunited with his family. Yellaiah who hails from Chinthamanpalli village of Domakonda mandal in Kamareddy district left for UAE in 2004 to earn money.

He then started working as a construction worker and had done several odd jobs in Dubai and Sharjah. He lost his passport and could not return home for 16 years. Yellaiah is said to have suffered memory loss and health condition also deteriorated.

Rupesh Mehta, a volunteer of a social service organisation came to know about Yellaiah and assisted him in getting a temporary passport from Indian Consulate in Dubai. Bheem Reddy, an immigrant rights activist said that getting an emergency certificate was delayed due to the non-availability of old passport details of Yellaiah when he entered the UAE 16 years ago. "The Hyderabad Passport Office searched for the old passport (2004) details in their database on the request of Yellaiah's wife Sunanda and found the passport number and other details which were shared to the Consulate General of India (CGI), Dubai," said Bheem Reddy.

Although getting the temporary passport, Yellaiah had to pay 1.46 lakh dirhams i.e, Rs 29 lakhs for illegal stay for 16 years. However, his fine was waived off and got an exit permit.

Yellaiah went to UAE when his daughter was an infant who is now married and has a one-year-old son.