RIYADH: Police have arrested a Saudi man on Sunday after he abducted an expatriate worker to look after his camels in a desert.
Indian tile factory worker Noushad, 28, was waiting for a bus in the town of Al-Kharj to meet his friend in Al-Raslan, around 60 km away from Riyadh, when the incident took place.
While he was waiting a Saudi motorist offered him a lift, claiming he was a police officer and showing him identification. Noushad got in the car and eventually became suspicious of the driver’s unusual behavior.
When he tried to contact his sponsor his abductor threatened to kill him. According to police, the suspect took Noushad around 180 km away from the city and forced him to tend to his herd of camels.
However, he managed to contact his community social worker in Al-Kharj through a Lebanese worker who had come to the desert to supply camel feed. Al-Kharj police were able to find the farm using STC’s satellite facility to pinpoint the location of the Lebanese worker’s mobile call.
Noushad, a skilled worker, said that he was treated like a slave without proper meals.
“If the police had not rescued me from this situation, I would have faced certain death due to the severe cold and untold hardships,” he said, describing his 28-day ordeal.
He thanked the social worker and police officers for their part in the rescue.
Noushad’s wife Safiyah, who had been in tears since he was reported missing, spoke of her relief. The couple has two children back home.
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