ABU DHABI: A 45-year-old Indian national from Kerala, Becks Krishnan who had been sentenced to death by a court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for killing a young Sudanese boy in a road accident in 2012, will soon be a free man and after the formalities are over can now return to his family in India.

Krishnan was saved by prominent UAE based NRI businessman and philanthropist M A Yusuff Ali who helped to pay his 'blood money' amounting to nearly Rs 1 crore to the Sudanese family which had since left UAE and settled in Sudan.

Krishnan was sentenced to death by UAE Supreme Court after he was found guilty of killing the boy when he recklessly drove and rammed his car into a group of children in September 2012. Ever since, his family and friends have been trying hard for Krishnan's release without any success, especially as the victim's family had already gone back and settled in Sudan, putting an end to any discussion or pardon.

After exhausting all remedies the Krishnan family then approached Ali, who went about getting the details of the case and got in touch with all stakeholders. 

According to a statement by the Lulu Group they pursued with all the stakeholders and ultimately in January 2021, the victim's family in Sudan agreed to pardon Krishnan and subsequently, Ali paid 500,000 Dirhams (approx Rs 1 crore) as compensation in the court to secure the man's release, 

Ali who hails from Nattika, Thrissur district in Kerala, is the owner of Abu Dhabi-based multinational conglomerate Lulu Group one of the top retailers in the Middle East and North African region (MENA) and employs over 57, 000 employees of various nationalities in its chain of Lulu Hypermarkets and shopping malls across these regions. 

Talking to the Indian embassy officials on Wednesday in Al Watba Jail in Abu Dhabi, Krishnan said that he could not believe the turn of events. He told the officials, "It's a rebirth for me, as I had lost all hope of seeing the outside world, let alone a free life. My only wish now is to see Yusuff Ali once before flying to my family."