A CONSTRUCTION company in Bahrain has called for an investigation after one of its workers was allegedly wrongly jailed as a runaway.

Bangladeshi Sarwar Saker spent 10 days in Jaw Prison after being summoned to the General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residency (GDNPR), when his employers applied to extend his residence permit (RP).

Pan Arab Company chief executive officer Varghese Paul said the building technician was immediately taken to court and ordered to be deported.

He said this was despite the 30-year-old having all the correct documentation, including a valid CPR card and RP and said the company had yet to receive any explanation.

Mr Paul said the Bangladeshi switched from a previous job to his company during the government’s amnesty for expatriate workers and had been working legally for six months.

But he said Mr Saker’s arrest could not be connected to that because he received a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from his sponsor and clearance from the Labour Ministry.

“We produced the employee to immigration and without any explanation they handed him over to the police station,” said Mr Paul.

“From the police station we came to know that as per the immigration computer, he was a runaway – even though our company transferred his residence with the written NOC of his last sponsor.

“He confirmed that there was nothing done from his end and he has no complaint against his ex-employee.

“The very next day this man was taken to the court and without a single word from him, he was punished with 10 days jail and deportation.”

Mr Paul said after his company approached the court with the relevant documents, the deportation clause was removed, but Mr Saker was made to serve the full sentence.

He has since been released and returned to work.

“There are a lot of cases like this,” said Mr Paul, who called for an investigation to find out what happened.

“With all respect to judicial system, we requested them to study the court papers properly prior to making their judgement.

“We have had no explanation from anybody.”

GDNPR officials denied any responsibility for Mr Saker’s arrest.

A spokesman said checks showed the worker did not appear on any of its blacklists and therefore his arrest had nothing to do with them.

However, he was unable to give any explanation for Mr Saker’s detention and Interior Ministry officials were yesterday unavailable for comment.

geoff@gdn.com.bh