E-Paper
ED raids 13 locations in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi in donkey route case
Probe part of money-laundering case after 19 FIRs registered against dubious travel agents and middlemen on complaint of deportees from Punjab and Haryana, who were sent back on US military planes in February by the Donald Trump administration.
Three days after confiscating properties worth ₹5.41 crore, the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday raided 13 locations in Punjab and Haryana besides Delhi as part of the money-laundering probe in connection with the “donkey route” or illegal immigration racket.
ED officials said that on the basis of evidence gathered during searches in February and July, the names of “second and third layer” persons involved in human trafficking came to light. “The name of Jalandhar-based travel firm Richi Travels surfaced in the ED investigation following which raids are underway at the offices and residences of its stakeholders. Raids are on at travel firms owned by Balwan Sharma of Panipat and Tarun Khosla of New Delhi,” an ED official said in Jalandhar.
The money-laundering case stems from 19 FIRs registered by Punjab and Haryana Police against travel agents and middlemen who cheated Indian citizens willing to enter the United States illegally. As many as 330 youngsters from Punjab and Haryana were deported on board US military planes in February by the Donald Trump administration. These deportees had attempted to cross the US-Mexico border illegally between January 23 and 28, only to be apprehended by US border security patrols and sent to detention centres.
The ED has recorded the statements of the deportees that led it to suspects who are being searched, the official said.
Each deportee paid between ₹45-55 lakh to travel agents whom they had never met in person but were connected to through local contacts. The ED asked the deportees to furnish all documents, including bank account details of the travel agents to whom payments were made.
On December 15, the ED had provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth ₹5.41 crore derived out and equivalent to the proceeds of crime generated by agents, namely Shubham Sharma, Jagjit Singh and Surmukh Singh, who were involved in sending persons to the US illegally through the donkey route. The attached properties include agricultural land, residential premises, business premises and bank accounts in the names of such agents and their family members.
The ED investigation found the deportees were facilitated by a network of travel agents, middlemen or donkers, overseas associates, hawala operators, lodging and other logistics arrangement providers.
In July, the offices and houses of suspects and agents in 11 cities, including Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala and Moga in Punjab and Ambala, Kurukshetra and Karnal in Haryana, were raided during which incriminating documents and material were found, including bogus immigration and visa stamps.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested two alleged donkey route traffickers after searches at two locations in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi in July. The accused were identified as Sunny of Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and Shubham Sandhal of Rupnagar, who was residing at Peeragarhi in the national capital. Their names surfaced during the interrogation of Gagangdeep Singh, who was arrested by the NIA from Delhi.
