A Particular Investigation Crew (SIT) of the Punjab Police, shaped to probe the unlawful human trafficking following the deportation of 30 state residents from the US, has registered eight FIRs in opposition to immigration brokers, a senior officer on Monday mentioned.
The FIRs have been registered on the statements of the deportees in opposition to the journey brokers who defrauded them with false guarantees of sending them to the US by way of ‘dunki’ routes (crossing a number of international locations illegally).
A US army plane carrying 104 unlawful Indian immigrants landed on the Amritsar airport on February 5. The NRI wing of the Punjab Police gave 30 of them, who’re the state’s residents, slips containing a couple of cellphone numbers. Police instructed the deportees they might use the numbers to lodge complaints in opposition to unscrupulous journey brokers in the event that they wished.
A senior officer mentioned that the SIT — headed by ADGP (NRI Affairs) Praveen Sinha, ADGP (Inner Safety) Shive Kumar Verma, IG (Provisioning) S Boopathi and DIG (Border Vary) Satinder Singh — is intently monitoring the probe and making certain that each one actions are carried out successfully and with due diligence.
Senior cops have personally met the deportees to deal with their grievances, the officer mentioned. Earlier the NRI Wing of the Punjab Police mentioned that they acquired many calls from deportees asking them to be “stored away” from the media.
“We had been bowled over once we acquired calls from some deportees with a request to be refrained from media glare as journalists had been approaching them to understand how they reached the US and thru which agent,” mentioned a senior officer, who didn’t wish to be named.
Calling the deportees “prepared victims”, the officer mentioned it appeared that the journey brokers acquired in contact with them instantly after they arrived in India and requested them to not reveal particulars. “We really feel that some guarantees have been made to deportees who usually are not coming ahead to lodge complaints. This can be within the form of a pledge to once more ship them overseas to another Western nation or to refund their cash partially,” the officer mentioned.
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Some deportees are additionally learnt to have locked up their homes and left for his or her family’ homes in different cities and villages in order that they will stay nameless and away from questions by associates in addition to the media.
The police mentioned preliminary investigations present the claims made by some deportees that they paid a big amount of cash as much as Rs 1 crore or much more for taking them to the US will not be true. “Individuals making these claims ought to be capable to present proof of funds which they might have paid. Our preliminary estimate is that these claims are inflated,” an officer mentioned.
In addition they mentioned {that a} false hearsay is being unfold by the journey brokers by way of the deportees, claiming that the principle base for sending folks through the ‘dunki’ route is in Dubai. “We really feel that it’s curated info which is being put out within the public area to mislead the police in addition to most people. Extra will come out when the SIT appears to be like into all angles,” the officer mentioned.
Gaurav Yadav, DGP, Punjab, mentioned the fact-finding panel has been directed to take acceptable motion in opposition to any particular person discovered to be concerned in committing illegalities and indulging in unlawful migration or human trafficking.
