Bhagalpur: For nearly eight years, Md Amiruddin of Salempur village, Bhagalpur, lived in limbo – stranded in Saudi Arabia after a road accident turned his life upside down. This Eid, he returned home, bringing tears, prayers and the kind of joy that only a miracle can deliver. Amiruddin had moved to Riyadh in 2013 to work as a driver, hoping to support his family back home. But in Nov 2016, his parked vehicle was struck by a speeding car. Despite not being at fault, he was blamed, convicted and sentenced to 14 months in jail. The local court also imposed a penalty of 90,000 Riyals. After his release, his passport and driving licence remained confiscated, forcing him to survive as a daily-wage worker. He pleaded with authorities to return his documents, but no one listened. Back in Bhagalpur, his family was growing desperate. It was in Aug last year that they reached out to S Z Hassan, SDO of Udakishunganj, who happened to be a Bhagalpur native. Hassan took up the matter, contacting the ministry of external affairs (MEA) and coordinating with the Indian Embassy in Riyadh. The response was instant. With intervention from the Indian govt, the Saudi authorities waived the hefty fine and cleared Amiruddin’s exit. His travel back to India was arranged and on March 30 this year – just before Eid – he stepped foot in his village after more than a decade. “My son has come back from ‘jhannum sey jannat’ (hell to heaven),” said his mother Bibi Sanower, feeding him biryani with hands that had not stopped trembling since his return. His brother, Md Kashif, called it “the biggest gift of Eid”. Now back home for good, Amiruddin is warning others against chasing illusions abroad. “People should stop running after easy money in foreign lands. I am staying here and starting over,” he said. SDO Hassan, while talking to this newspaper, called it a matter of humanity. “All I did was try to save a life. The real credit goes to the officials who acted promptly,” he added.
