On US deportees’ complaints, 4 FIRs in Punjab, Haryana against travel agents | Chandigarh News
Police in Punjab and Haryana have registered cases against some travel agents on charges of duping the families of some immigrants who were among the 104 people deported by the US’s Donald Trump administration for entering the country illegally. Separately, Punjab Police also constituted a four-member special investigation team (SIT) to inquire into the issue of illegal emigration and human trafficking.
Of the 104 deportees who landed in Amritsar Wednesday, 33 are from Haryana, 30 from Punjab, and two from Chandigarh. While some of the deportees and their families have since left for undisclosed locations to avoid media glare, most others have shared stories of being defrauded by unscrupulous travel agents who promised legal entry to US but instead sent them through illegal dunki route.
In Punjab, the Amritsar Rural police booked Satnam Singh, a travel agent who allegedly defrauded Daler Singh, (38), a resident of village Salem Pura who was among the deportees,
The police in Haryana also registered FIRs against three travel agents on charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust, acting on the complaints of two deportees and their family members. In the FIR registered at Raja Sansi police station in Amritsar, Daler Singh mention that he used to work as a driver before deciding to migrate to the US for a better future for his family. In 2023, his relative Gursevak Singh introduced him to travel agent Satnam Singh, a resident of village Kotli Khahera, who had promised to take him to the US in a legal way. Daler Singh further said that he 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 that Daler’s family pad Rs 60 lakh to the agent in several instalments, including through online bank transfer.
“Daler Singh 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. Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that Indians who were deported from the US are not criminals but victims of crime. “Fraudulent immigration agents looted millions from them and illegally sent them to America. Today, I initiated legal proceedings against one such fraud agent,” he said.
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Meanwhile, the Karnal police in Haryana registered two FIRs against three travel agents on the complaint of Shubham, a resident of Kalaram village, whose brother Akash was among the deportees, and Sumit Singh from Bassi, also a deportee.
On the basis of Sumit’s complaint, police have booked Karnal resident Pradeep Rana under charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust apart from the provisions of the Immigration Act. Sumit alleged that the agent had promised to send him to the US through a legal route and charged him Rs 40 lakh. “Rana sent me to the US through a dunki route in August 2024. I jumped over a fence in Mexico to enter the US on January 25. However, the US Police arrested me and I was deported,”
Sumit said adding he took Rs 8 lakh from relatives. “To pay the rest of the money, we offered him 1.5 acres of land, and an agreement was made for the same,” he added.
Shubham lodged a complaint against a Jalandhar resident Rocky and his associate alleging that they had promised to send Aakash to the US after charging Rs 42.5 lakh, but he was duped. “Aakash entered the US on January 26 and was immediately arrested by the US police and deported,” Shubham told the police.
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Meanwhile, Director General of Police, Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said the four member SIT will take action against any person found involved in illegal emigration or human trafficking.
The SIT is headed by ADGP (NRI) Parveen Sinha, and comprises ADGP (Internal Security) Shive Verma, IGP (Provisioning) Dr S Boopathi, and DIG (Border Range) Satinder Singh.
