Pakistani tourist lands in Turkiye jail for carrying ‘chalia, supari’

A Pakistani tourist has landed in jail in Turkiye for carrying ‘chalia and supari’ while his family appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to play the role for his release, ARY News reported on Monday.

According to details, a Pakistani youth namely Owais was arrested in Turkiye for transporting chalia packets. Owais has been sent on Turkiye tour by his company for being the best-performing employee.

He took two packets of chalia with him to gift them to the tour operator who was going to assist him during the Turkiye visit.

The father of Owais, Saifullah said that his son was unaware of Turkiye strict laws where chalia and supari have the status of narcotics. He added that Owais is a heart patient and the family has already spent over Rs1.5 million to pursue his case.

“We were told that chalia will be sent to the laboratory and the report will be issued in six months to decide about the fate of Owais.”

Saifullah said that they were neighbours of the prime minister and went to his residence in Model Town but no one listened to their appeal.

He said that they could not afford lawyers’ fees anymore. He appealed to the foreign ministry to take up the issue with the Turkiye government as several people are also facing jail for the same allegations.

Saifullah appealed to the prime minister to help him to release their son.

The 26-year-old Owais had been arrested in Turkiye on September 15, however, the Pakistani Embassy excused from assisting the family after issuing a letter.

It was learnt that a public notice was not issued by the embassy regarding the strict ban on chalia and gutka in Turkiye. After Owais’ arrest, the embassy issued a public notice.