Bareilly: Promised of a lucrative merchant navy job in Iran by a friend , 24-year-old Rinkoo Singh left Shahjahanpur for Shiraz with high hopes for a better life.
However, instead of the greener pastures he was promised, the young man, whose farmer father sold his land for his son s career, was dumped into a small boat with all his money and documents taken away.
After realising that he was tricked and duped by his batchmate, Saurabh Som, from his merchant navy course days, Rinkoo fled the boat and initially lived on pavement and later on farms, surviving on fruits for a fortnight. When stranded, his only lifeline was his phone with a UP SIM card and a scanned copy of his passport in it.