New Delhi/Chandigarh, Feb 11: Seventeen Indian men, 16 of them from Punjab, who were on a death row in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since 2010 on charges of murdering a Pakistani national, and freed by a Sharjah court returned to Delhi early Tuesday morning.
The men were allowed to be freed after blood money (money paid as compensation to the victim's family) worth nearly Rs.5 crore was paid to the family of the Pakistani national Misri Khan.
They had been sentenced to death by a Shariat court in Sharjah March 2010. They were convicted of murdering Misri Khan and injuring three others January 2009, following a fight over illegal liquor business. Two other Pakistanis were injured in the clash which occurred in Al Sajaa area of Sharjah.
The returning men include 16 from Punjab and one from Haryana. All were working in UAE as labourers.
Dubai-based Indian hotelier S.P. Singh Oberoi, who led the campaign and collected money through charity and well-wishers to secure the release of the Indian men, said that the freed men will reach India early Tuesday.
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