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This Article is From Mar 07, 2014

'It's all in the name' for this Indian in UAE

Dubai: An Indian professional in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) faces excessive scrutiny every time he goes out of the country because his namesake is a wanted criminal.

Mohammad Anwer Ali, 37, a business analyst at a travel company in Dubai, faces trouble every time he travels to another country. The man who shares his name has been blacklisted by the UAE authorities, the Gulf News reported on Thursday.

"I got curious after I started getting hauled up at Dubai airport. I thought this couldn't be a coincidence every time. When I asked an officer why I was being taken to a separate room all the time and made to wait, he told me they were making sure that the other Mohammad Anwer Ali who's blacklisted in the UAE and I are not the same," Mr Ali said.

"Once an immigration officer even pressed the alarm button to call police, thinking I was the man on the run," he added.

Mr Ali, who lives in Ajman, one of the seven emirates of the UAE, with his wife, said he faced a similar situation earlier this year in Jakarta.

He visited the Department of Naturalisation and Residency - an agency that grants entry permits, visit visas, residence visas for entering and living in the UAE - in Dubai but that did not help either.

"The officer told me that they cannot do anything for me at the moment and cannot even issue the E-gate pass. They asked me to come again in July," he added.

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