Arham Shaikh and Ashish Sakpal left the city in 2019 for the UAE and from there they went to Iran for training, hoping to work as sailors. However, in Iran, they were exploited, first by the ship owner who made them work without a salary for over a year, even after their tourist visa expired. Later, when they finally got their salary, an agent took all of it as payment for sending them back home. However, he left them on ship without electricity for four months, until the Maritime Union of India rescued them.
 
When they started, Shaikh and Sakpal didn’t know each other, and the only common link between the two was a Chembur-based agent through whom they had secured the job and who facilitated their travel to the UAE, from where they went to Iran. Shaikh said that when he reached the UAE to work as a sailor in September 2019, he was kept in a hotel for 15 days. He was then informed that the ship he wants to work on is in Iran. So, he was transferred to Iran, along with Sakpal. There, the owner took away their passports and did not pay them any salary.

They lose contact with family

They had travelled from India on a tourist visa, and had a one-year contract to work on the ship. A year later, they wanted to return home, as their visa had expired. They asked the ship owner for their passports, but he claimed that he had lost them. Without money, they lost contact with the family, as they could not recharge their mobile phone.