Police in Punjab and Gujarat have started probing whether there was an agency or an organised syndicate behind sending hundreds of people to Dubai and then to Nicaragua and whether it was a case of trafficking as alleged by the French police. A total of 276 Indians returned from France four days after their chartered plane was grounded in Frace on suspicion of trafficking. About two-thirds of the passengers were from Punjab and about 25% were from Gujarat. Most of them had valid Nicaraguan visas. The lawyer of the airline said many passengers had return tickets too and hence there is no evidence that the passengers were planning to go somewhere else from Nicaragua.

What Gujarat Police said

The Gujarat police formed teams to unearth the network that operated behind the foiled trafficking bid. The passengers from Gujarat belonged to Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana and Anand districts. Superintendent of Police, CID (Crime), Sanjay Kharat said once the passengers reach Gujarat from Mumbai, they will be interrogated to find out about the agents involved in this.

The focus of the investigation will be to find out who are facilitating this kind of trafficking, who were opting for it and how many people have been flown abroad this way. The CID has so far received “raw information” regarding the agents. The agents working at the village and district levels are small players controlled by a kingpin who works at the international level, the SP said.

What Punjab Police said

A Punjab Police official aware of the details of the passengers said, “Most of those who were deported back are in their mid-20s or early 30s and had a valid Nicaragua visa.”

The word Donkey route is derived from the Punjabi word “dunki”, which means to hop from place to place. It refers to an illegal method in which people cross a country’s borders through a back-door route with multiple stops in other countries. The passengers on the chartered plane reached Dubai a few months back — all on tourist visas or work visas. From the UAE, they boarded the flight to Nicaragua. But French authorities grounded the plane and alleged that the passengers were probably headed to sneak to the US via Mexico.