Indian manager faces travel ban in Bahrain

The case of a former restaurant manager who is now facing a travel ban was among the cases discussed at the Indian Embassy Open House yesterday.

A recent court verdict against Vishnu Kumar (name changed upon request) implies that he needs to pay over BD10,000 for his travel ban to be removed. Kumar said his passport is currently expired and he does not have a valid visa to stay in Bahrain.
To pay the amount, Kumar illegally worked at another restaurant without a valid visa. When he was caught by the authorities, matters got complicated further.

His final hope was to obtain money from selling his real estate in India; however, due to a divorce related case for the property, he cannot pursue this either.

“I used to manage a restaurant. When the business started collapsing, I notified the owner that I could no longer manage it. I took responsibility for BD2000 loss and agreed to pay this amount. He claimed in the court that the amount that I needed to pay was BD10,500. To respond to this, I hired a lawyer and paid BD950 as his fee, but he cheated me as well. He did not even attend the court sessions. I only came to know about it too late, by the time I came to know, I could not even appeal,” he said.

“I had also worked without a valid visa and was caught by LMRA. I had to stay in their detention centre for three months,” he told DT News.
Meanwhile, during the Open House, Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Ram Singh confirmed that the body of the fisherman, who was killed during the incident where a Bahraini dhow was attacked by pirates earlier this month, was repatriated on January 26.

The sailor was killed after he wandered off Bahraini territorial waters. He was identified as 27-year-old Pankajbhai Ishwarbhai Tandel from India.