Ernakulam: Joy Arakkal, one of Kerala's richest expat businessman and owner of oil refineries in the Gulf region, who died a week ago, had committed suicide, the Dubai police has confirmed.
Arakkal took the extreme step owing to financial issues amid reports of a recession looming large over the Gulf region.
The owner of refinery firm Innova Refining & Trading Fze, that generates an estimated $125 million in annual sales, had jumped off the 14th floor of his office building in Dubai's financial hub Business Bay, the local police said.
“We received a report about a man plunging to his death from the 14th floor of a friend's building ... The businessman committed suicide over financial problems,” Brigadier Abdullah Khadim Bin Sorour, director of Bur Dubai Police Station, told Gulf News.
The police ruled out any foul play and said his body will be flown back to India in an air ambulance. “It was a suicide. Investigations are over and his body will be flown back to India,” Abdullah Khadim Bin Sorour old Khaleej Times.
Arakkal is survived by wife Celine Joy and children Arun and Ashley.
Arakkal owned oil refineries in Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah in the UAE and Dammam in Saudi Arabia. While his business primarily involved sourcing, refining and trading petroleum and petrochemical products, he had also recently branched out to logistics and telecom. He was among the few Indian businessmen who was awarded the 10-year Gold Card visa by the United Arab Emirates in 2019.
The news of Joy's death devastated many in Kerala who valued his success saga and generosity. He had also hit the news recently for building an enormous 45,000 sq ft house in Wayanad which he called 'The Arakkal Palace'.
Keralites have a 50-year long emigration history to West Asia. Most of them work in blue collar jobs and under harsh conditions in Gulf cities, in return for the prosperity handed over by the exchange rate difference. Those who make it big, like Joy who began his migrant life in Dubai as a chartered accountant, are hailed by the local population.
But, following the financial fallout of the novel coronavirus crisis, which has dragged oil prices to historic lows, some 3.5 lakh Keralites have registered to return home, raising worries of a social unrest.
