KAZHAKKOOTTAM: For the second time, Thomas boarded the plane to Jordan with high hopes of getting to Israel. What seemed a walk to prosperity ended up tragically for the Thumba native. Thomas was shot dead by the Jordanian army while trying to cross the border.

Thomas hails from a fishing community. After returning to Kerala from Kuwait five years ago, he took an auto on loan and started earning a living by driving it. With his modest income, Thomas took a loan and built a house for his family in Thumba Thiruvananthapuram. By this time, Thomas had exhausted most of his savings acquired during his tenure at Gulf.

To improve his life, Thomas approached a local agent to help him move to Jordan, which offered better financial prospects. He even paid around Rs three lakhs for his journey. The first journey to Jordan ended up bitter after the officials spotted an additional number in the series in Thomas’s passport. Very soon, he was sent back home.

The agent assured Thomas would be sent to Jordan along with the next batch. That's how Thomas and his cousin Edison went to Jordan again on February 5. However, within a month, what reached the family was tragic news. His wife has not stopped crying since she heard the news and is beyond consolation. His ailing parents have not been informed about the death.

Thomas and Edison left on February 5. Both of them were brought to Jordan by Biju Jalas, a native of Thumba. Each paid Rs 3.10 lakh each for the visa and air ticket. The duo were promised a job in Israel that paid Rs three lakhs per month. There was also an agreement to pay the agent 50,000 rupees each for the first eight months after getting confirmed in the job.

On February 9, Thomas called home for the last time and informed the family that he was going to Israel. The trip was on the 10th. Agent Biju, who was with them, backed out at the last moment and assigned someone else to guide the team to Israel. Two Sri Lankan youths were also in the team.

At the end of the journey, at 11 pm, the army fired at the batch while they were trying to cross the Jordanian border by walking through the marshy area on the sea coast.

The penury-stricken family is clueless on how to bring the mortal remains home after the embassy informed them to pay a huge amount to initiate procedures to send the body back home.