Arrested US deportee was first sent back from Nairobi, Belarus; spent 3 days in Russian jail: FIR

Gurwinder, who had left home in December 2023, was deported twice on the way to the US — first from Nairobi (in Kenya) and then Belarus. A resident of Sarsali Colony of Ludhiana, he landed in Amritsar on February 15, in the second batch of deportees from the US.

He was later arrested after it was found that non-bailable warrants were pending against him in the 2021 Ludhiana snatching case. Police said two other cases — one of snatching another of robbery — were also registered against him in Ludhiana and Faridkot. He was booked for allegedly snatching 1500 and Rs 500 in Ludhiana.

The Ludhiana police has now registered an FIR against travel agents Charanjit Singh of Ludhiana, Nishant Kumar (an advocate from Uttar Pradesh), Sandeep Kumar of Bathinda, Ravinder Deol of Dubai and Satnam Singh under the sections 406 (breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 370 (trafficking of people), 120-B IPC and 24 of Immigration Act at Meharban police station for allegedly duping the couple of Rs 69.40 lakh and sending Gurwinder abroad on basis of “fake passport and documents.”

Hardeep Kaur in her complaint to the police said that Gurwinder had cleared IELTS and wanted to work abroad. They came in contact with Charanjit Singh, the former sarpanch of their village who also works as a travel agent. She said that he promised to send Gurwinder to the US for Rs 35 lakh.

However, Gurwinder informed Charanjit that he had three criminal cases registered against him following which the latter said that he will get a new passport made for him on a fake address of some other state, said Hardeep in her complaint.

According to the FIR (copy with The Indian Express), in 2023, Charanjit took Gurwinder to Lucknow and introduced him to Nishant Kumar. Hardeep said that Charanjit and Nishant took Rs 1.25 lakh to get Gurwinder’s fake Aadhar card, voter card and new passport made.

According to Hardeep Kaur, in December 2023, Gurwinder was first sent to Nairobi via Mumbai on a tourist visa for which Charanjit took Rs 12.50 lakh in cash. Hardeep said that Charanjit had claimed that Gurwinder will be sent to the US via Suriname, Nicaragua to Mexico but after reaching Nairobi, he was sent back to Mumbai.

Hardeep said that in March 2024, Charanjit introduced them to travel agents Sandeep Kumar and Ravinder Deol. Again a deal was fixed for Rs 32 lakh to send Gurwinder to the US and after they paid Rs 8.50 lakh, he was sent to Thailand.

Hardeep said that on being told by the agents, her husband also carried US $ 9,000. But instead of being sent to the US via Dubai, he was sent to Moscow (Russia). Back home, Charanjit took another Rs 6.50 lakh from Hardeep on the pretext of arranging a flight ticket to Mexico. Hardeep said that instead Gurwinder was made to cross the Belarus border illegally where he was arrested by the Army and sent to a Russian jail where he spent three days. After being released from jail, he went to Abu Dhabi on a tourist visa.

She said that Charanjit took another Rs 2 lakh on the pretext of arranging Gurwinder’s ticket for Brazil but instead sent him back to Delhi. Then they met another agent Satnam Singh who demanded Rs 32 lakh to send him to the US. He was then sent to Guyana following which they paid another Rs 10 lakh, and another Rs 8 lakh were paid after he reached Brazil.

Gurwinder then took the usual dunki route to reach the US-Mexico border via the Panama jungles to reach Guatemala and then Mexico. Back home, Charanjit took another tranche of Rs 13 lakh from his wife. Gurwinder crossed the border on January 25, was held by US authorities and deported.

Ludhiana police commissioner Kuldeep Singh Chahal said that according to the complainant they were duped of Rs 61.75 lakh in cash and another US $ 9,000 (Rs 7.82 lakh). “We will further probe how the passport and other documents were made. Arrests will be made in due course,” said CP Chahal.