Pius Wilfred Minino Coutinho, who had been stuck at a deportation centre in Doha, Qatar, for two and a half months, returned home to his family in Mumbai eight days after mid-day shed light on his plight. The 68-year-old, who moved to the West Asian country for work over 35 years ago, said he had handed over his passport to his sponsor — the general manager of the company he used to work for — for safekeeping a few years ago. However, when he subsequently enquired about it, the sponsor replied that he had lost it.

“I didn’t think much while keeping my passport with him all these years, as I used to get my working licence renewed every few years, and wouldn’t have any issues, but the last time I asked him, he said he had misplaced it,” Coutinho told mid-day on Wednesday. When the Qatar authorities realised that Coutinho didn’t have his passport, he was sent to the deportation centre.