Bootleg murderer's father says return to India should not be celebrated

Piarelal, 73, a private English tutor and retired school clerk, with Mukhwinder Singh, the mother of Harjinder Singh, one of the 17 Indian men pardoned for a bootleg murder in Sharjah. Courtesy of SprShow more

The father of one of 17 men saved from death row for murder and deported to India says his son's return should not be celebrated.

Piarelal, an English tutor in Jalandhar, said: "We are happy to see him and are very grateful to all the people who helped free him, but the truth is a man's life has been lost. It's not entirely a happy moment."

Subhan, 28, was one of the 17 convicted in 2010 by the Sharjah Court of First Instance for murdering the Pakistani Misri Khan in a bootleg turf war in 2009.

They were pardoned after Dh3.4?million in blood money was paid to the victim's family in 2011.On Tuesday the 17 returned to their families.

Most of their families claimed the men were innocent, but Mr Piarelal said he knew his son had committed a crime and was part of a bootleg gang.

"It was a gang war and I know he was involved," he said.

"He was selling alcohol illegally. He didn't have a job after the recession. He was worried how he'd pay back the loan he'd taken to get to the UAE.

"When he didn't get a job, he got caught up with alcohol sellers who attract unemployed youth like him."

Subhan travelled to Sharjah in 2008 to work as a labourer.

Mr Piarelal, who has two other children, said his son had confessed to him that this was not the first gang war of which he had been part.

"There had been other fights. They did hurt the man but we just don't know whose blow killed him. They did not intentionally kill him or plan his murder. It all happened suddenly.

"It is wrong for the other families to pretend nothing has happened. It is OK to say in the media that your sons are innocent but I used to tell them, 'Let us accept that there has been a murder and our children made a mistake'."

Mr Piarelal said the fact that the families were keen to pay the exorbitant diyaa money proved the men were not innocent.

"If they are prepared to give the blood money, then they should accept their children had committed a sin," he said.

S?P Singh Oberoi, a Dubai hotelier and philanthropist, helped to raise the blood money.

The men then spent a further year and five months in prison because of additional charges brought against them by the Public Prosecution service.

A travel ban was also imposed after two other men filed compensation charges for injuries they sustained in the gang fight.

Eventually, Mr Oberoi paid another Dh100,000 as compensation to the injured men, and the Indian government paid for the 17 men to fly to Delhi from Dubai.

Despite his disappointment over his son's role in the murder, Mr Piarelal said he was willing to forgive him.

"What punishment he got, he deserved. The incident has been a turning point in his life. If he has learnt his lesson and regrets his action, I think we've gained something.

"He has become more responsible and committed towards his family."

Subhan said he was aware the past four years had been difficult for his father.

"He's happy that I am back but he's also sad someone else has died," he said. "I have been away from them for so many years.

"I never want to leave them now and do not want to give them any more grief."