12 March 2004	Friday	20 Muharram 1425

KARACHI, March 11: A mentally disturbed man, earlier deported from the United Arab Emirates, was handed over to his relatives by the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation on Thursday.

The man, Mohammad Hanif, son of Mohammad Ibrahim, was handed over to his sister, Rani Abdul Ghaffar, and his nephews, Mohammad Sharif and Juma Khan, in People's Colony in Mumtazabad, Multan.

Mohammad Hanif, 45, jobless and destitute, is married and has a family of eight - wife, three sons and four daughters. He had left home about seven months back and there was no information about his whereabouts since then. His wife, Ramzana, had fallen sick owing to poverty, hardship and worries, and had been admitted to a hospital in Multan, said an OPF official, Mushtaq Ahmad.

Giving brief facts, the official said that Mohammad Hanif crossed into Iran via Turbat and Mand Bulloo before being ferried to Dubai by a human trafficker. Two other illegal immigrants, Bilal and Manzoor, were accompanying.

As soon as they landed at UAE, they were ordered by Dubai security officials to surrender. However, they tried to dodge the officials who opened fire killing Bilal and Manzoor.

Hanif sustained multiple bullet injuries and was shifted to a Dubai hospital and subsequently sent to jail. Due to hardships, he lost his mental balance.

Dubai authorities approached the Pakistan embassy which arranged his repatriation, the OPF official said, adding that he was wearing only a shirt when handed over to PIA crew which provided him a bedsheet to cover lower part of his body. The flight, PK 208, in which Hanif was repatriated, had landed here on Saturday.

At Karachi airport, the OPF staff received Hanif and took him to the JPMC for check up and treatment. During the time Hanif remained in the JPMC, the OPF managed to locate his relatives.