At 4 pm on January 30, Dhruv Patel, a BBA graduate and insurance professional from the Jhakharia village in the Anand district of Gujarat, received the text he had been waiting for: “We leave for New Delhi at 6 pm.”
It was the first leg of a journey he hoped would end in the United States via the infamous ‘dunki’ route. Instead, it led to a secluded room in Azerbaijan, where he was allegedly tortured with electric shocks while his family watched on a video call.
Nine days later, Dhruv was back home, after being “rescued” from his abductors. His family, along with Dipika’s, is believed to have spent Rs 50 lakh each in the process —Rs 15 lakh to the Azerbaijan abductors, and Rs 35 lakh to an agent.
Anand MP Mitesh Patel, who intervened with the Ministry of External Affairs on the behalf of the families, said four people were arrested in Azerbaijan in the case. Additionally, the Anand district police has arrested three “agents” — Mamta Jitesh Gavit (49), who is alleged to have received the money from the families, Ketan Ramesh Soni (54), and Daniel Baptist Monteiro (49).
Dhruv Patel says he will “never make another attempt” to go to the US. (Express photo).
Recalling the January 30 text, Dhruv, 22, says that along with Dipika Patel, also from Anand, and a youth from Punjab, he was told about an itinerary that seemed promising: Vadodara to New Delhi, then to Istanbul via Azerbaijan on tourist visas, and finally a flight to Canada, from where they would be “sneaked” into the US.
He was aware that similar journeys had ended in tragedy, and death, Dhruv says. But the agents planning the trip had been contacted by his father through local references, and so he was confident.
His father owns a small farm, and Dhruv, who has a younger sister, says: “I knew the risks, but the success stories made me take the chance… We have relatives in the US… I also wanted to improve my family’s situation.”
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Sources close to Dipika’s family said the 32-year-old decided to take the risky route after her US-based husband “deserted” her two years ago. Her family, including her mother and brother, barely ekes out a living and struggled to raise the money needed for her to travel. They have refused to talk to the media.
Dhruv said their dreams started “unravelling” from the time they landed in Azerbaijan. Local intermediaries allegedly whisked them to a remote house in Khazar district, confiscated their phones, and locked them up.
The families back home were told the two from Gujarat and the Punjab youth were on a flight, and hence their phones were switched off. “They sent pictures of Baku Airport.”
Mamta allegedly then told the families they had reached Canada. At this point, the families say they paid her the first instalment of Rs 35 lakh.
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Soon after, the families said, they received a call from another agent in Haryana, Pawan, who told them he had not got any of the money. And then started the ransom calls, with the three “tortured” even as the accused placed video calls to their families. Dhruv says they threatened to take out his kidney, and to sell him to human traffickers.
Dhruv said, “Pawan and our abductor, a man called Baba Khan, called my family by turns… My parents made three crypto transfers of a total of Rs 15 lakh to Pawan.”
Dhruv said that the three of them were given barely some rice and dal to sustain themselves, and he “lost all hope of being rescued”.
Back in Gujarat, the families of Dhruv and Dipika approached Gujarat minister Kamlesh Patel, who in turn raised the issue with BJP Anand MP Mitesh Patel. The MP says he reached out to Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, and the Indian Embassy in Baku was contacted.
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An operation titled ‘Mahisagar’ was initiated to find the three Indians in captivity, says MP Patel, after Embassy officials determined that three Indian nationals had entered Azerbaijan, but not left. They were also found to have never checked into the hotel their agents had booked for their layover en route to the US.
Using local intelligence, the Azerbaijan police located the three to Khazar district. On February 9, the three were rescued with the help of the local police.
MP Patel, who received Dhruv and Dipika on their arrival at the Vadodara airport, says youth should guard against falling for traps promising to take them to other countries illegally. He also expressed his gratitude to the MEA for facilitating their return.
Calls and text messages to the MEA spokesperson went unanswered.
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Dhruv, who worked as an insurance agent for close to two years before being lured by the American dream, says he has learnt his lesson. And that anyone attempting illegal immigration to the US should look for other opportunities.
But, while he may have given up on going to the US, Dhruv says he will “explore options for settling in another country, which is easier to legally migrate to”.
Dhruv Patel says he will “never make another attempt” to go to the US. (Express photo).