Police In Punjab, Haryana Register Cases Against Travel Agents On Complaint Of Deportees

Many of those deported have alleged that they were duped by travel agents who took them to the US through 'Dunki' routes.

Amritsar/Karnal:Police in Punjab and Haryana have registered cases against some travel agents on charges of duping the families of the illegal Indian immigrants who were deported by the Donald Trump administration a couple of days ago.

Many of those deported have alleged that they were duped by travel agents who took them to the US through 'Dunki' routes -- illegal and risky pathways used by migrants to enter the country.

The Amritsar Rural police on Friday booked Satnam Singh, a travel agent who allegedly defrauded Daler Singh, who was among the 104 illegal migrants from Indians deported by the US authorities on Wednesday.

The police in Haryana also registered FIRs against three travel agents on charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust, acting on the complaints from the deportees or their family members.

Of the 104 illegal immigrants who arrived in Amritsar onboard a US military plane on Wednesday, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, Daler Singh (37), who hails from a village in Amritsar, has alleged that he was cheated by the travel agent who had promised to take him to the US in a legal way.

Singh, who was a driver before deciding to migrate, said he wanted to move to the US for a better future for his family and raised money to pay the travel agent by borrowing from relatives and friends, besides mortgaging his farmland.

He said that he was taken to Dubai and later to Brazil. He was then taken through the 'dunki' route, enduring hardships like passing through treacherous pathways in the jungles of Panama before being arrested by US authorities on January 15.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Amritsar Rural, Charanjeet Singh said the FIR was lodged on the complaint of Daler Singh. The police officer also said that Daler had paid the money to Satnam Singh through bank transfer.

"Daler Singh lodged a police complaint son after he was deported from the US. He gave us some proof to support his complaint and those were found genuine upon verification. Following this, an FIR was lodged against Satnam Singh," the SSP said.

He also said that Daler had paid Rs 60 lakh in instalments to the travel agent who had promised him a suitable job in the US.

Meanwhile, the Karnal police in Haryana registered a case on the complaint of Shubham, a resident of Kalaram village, whose brother Akash was among the deportees.

He lodged a complaint on Thursday against a Jalandhar resident, saying that he had promised to send Aakash to the US after charging Rs 42.5 lakh, but he was duped.

Another case was registered against a travel agent in Karnal district on the complaint of a deportee, who alleged that the agent had promised to send him to the US through a legal way and charged him Rs 40 lakh. He, however, was sent to the US through a 'dunki' route.