Illegal immigration to US via ‘dunki route’: ED raids 11 locations of travel agents across Punjab, Haryana
In Moga, ED carried out searches on the premises of Sukhwinder Singh, state president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Totewal), a farmers' body.
According to the ED, the deportees were largely from Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat, and had landed at Amritsar airport in multiple flights. (Representative image) Five months after the mass deportation of at least 380 Indians who had taken the illegal ‘dunki route’ to reach the United States, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches across Punjab and Haryana on the premises of visa/travel agents. The raids were conducted at 11 locations as part of the investigation into the alleged money laundering by the agents who allegedly cheated the deportees by charging at least Rs 30-50 lakh per person with a promise to make them reach the US legally.
According to the ED, the deportees were largely from Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat, and had landed at Amritsar airport in multiple flights.
The Jalandhar Zonal Office of ED carried out searches in Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala, Moga, Ambala, Kurushetra, and Karnal, said a source.
In Moga, the searches were carried out on the premises of Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukh Gill, the state president of his self-styled farmers’ union, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Totewal). He was booked for allegedly duping Jaswinder Singh, 21, of Rs 45 lakh on the pretext of sending him to the US “legally via flight”. But Jaswinder Singh was sent via dunki route, and later deported.
A source from the ED said the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was initiated on the basis of 17 cases registered by the police authorities in Punjab and Haryana against the travel agents and middlemen who cheated several individuals aspiring to migrate to the USA.
During the investigation, it was found that the agents used to target innocent people and charge them huge amounts, amounting to approximately Rs 45-50 lakh per candidate, on the false promise of sending them abroad through legal channels and flights, said a source. “However, the agents used to dupe the innocent persons as they were sent through illegal ‘dunki’ routes by crossing the borders of many countries illegally through dangerous and jungle routes under the influence of Donkers and Mafias,” the source added.
“Further, these agents in collusion with donkers and mafia used to create a threatening situation for the persons and their families that they were forced to pay more and more money. ED recorded the statements of a few deportees and further examination of facts revealed the names of suspects, which are being covered in today’s search,” said the source.
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