Project Eagle Update

Project Eagle, an Indian Community Welfare Committee (ICWC) endeavour, has
been successful in raising diya (blood) money and securing the release of
its ninth case from prison, according to its spokesperson K.Kumar.

“The project was launched after the ICWC discovered that 12 Indian nationals
were languishing in jail due to their inability to raise diya money. We also
deducted that the cases were related to accidental deaths and not deliberate
acts. With the release of Ambatti Srinivas from the Dubai Central Prison on
Convenor at ICWC, which is under the patronage of the Consulate General of
India in Dubai.

Due to poor visibility while driving, Srinivas had knocked down a
Bangladeshi national who was crossing the road. While the court held the
former responsible for manslaughter, it also ruled that the deceased was a
jaywalker and reduced the diya payment to half the standard amount. The ICWC
paid AED 100,000 and secured the release of Srinivas, who hails from Andhra
Pradesh.

“Efforts are still ongoing to resolve the remaining three diya cases before
our self imposed deadline of 9 June,” said Kumar. “In one case, we are
couriering the documents to Haryana after the legal heirs have finally
agreed to an out of court settlement. In the second instance, we are
processing the necessary documents after one of the legal heirs of the
victim has agreed to a pardon.”

However, negotiations are still in progress with the third family from Tamil
Nadu. “Project Eagle has held numerous discussions with the victim’s family
and hopes to reach an amicable settlement,” said Kumar. “Since this was a
freak accident, we are also simultaneously trying to get the insurance
company to release the diya money.”