Dubai: A Dubai-based Indian businessman has gone missing in Yemen, sparking concern among his family and friends.
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Suresh Kumar Krishna Pillai, 59, originally from Kerala, was on a business trip to the war-torn country, but disappeared within days of landing in Aden on July 2. He was last heard of just two days later.
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“I have been spending sleepless nights wondering about what has happened to my father, I just hope he’s safe,” said Pillai’s son Jithin, who has rushed to Dubai from Thiruvananthapuram to take stock of the situation.
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“My mum isn’t even aware that dad is missing. I don’t know how she’s going to take this news,” he added.
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Pillai’s friend and business partner Shivadasan Valappil, 64, said he has also exhausted all leads.
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“Pillai called me from Sana’a at around 10.30am on July 4, saying his meeting went well. That was the last time he was seen or heard of again,” said Valappil, a long-time Dubai resident, who is the managing director of a company called Infinity Global Loyalties.
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Flight ticket details accessed by Gulf News show Pillai reached Yemen via Sudan on July 2.
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He flew to Khartoum from Dubai on July 1 before taking a Queen Bilqis Airways flight to the port city of Aden the following afternoon.
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According to Valappil, Pillai had gone to Yemen to secure a loan which he hoped would fund a massive Ethanol (alcohol fuel) manufacturing plant that the businessman was trying to set up in Belgaum in the southwest Indian state of Karnataka.
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“It’s a multimillion dollar project sprawling over 140 acres. The plant was nearing completion but as luck would have it, Pillai ran out of funds and the plant was declared a non performing asset by Indian banks. Left with no choice, he was forced to look elsewhere for funding,” said Vallapil.
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“Of late, Pillai was in touch with some private parties in Yemen who offered him a mortgage loan,” Vallapil added.
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“Shortly after Pillai pledged his property documents with them, the private parties sent him documents showing a bank account had been opened in his name with a deposit of Dh67 million. Pillai was then called to Yemen to complete certain formalities and release the funds. I don’t know what went wrong but I am not getting a good feeling about this,” added Valappil.
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Meanwhile, Pillai’s son has made a desperate appeal to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help find his father.
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“Please save my father! He’s stuck in Sana’a, Yemen,” said Jithin in a tweet to Modi and India’s Ministry of External Affairs. “He’s an industrialist and a businessman in Dubai. We are from Thiruvananthapuram. Please help us to bring him back. We need immediate action,” the tweet added.
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Pillai also has a daughter who is married and living in Dubai.
###Suresh Kumar Pillai
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