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Illegal migration: Kurukshetra youth killed on donkey route in Croatia identified by DNA match
The body of a Kurukshetra youth, who was killed en route Italy in 2022 has been identified by matching DNA of his mother. A police spokesperson said a digital format DNA profile was collected by Haryana police in Interpol standardised format and transmitted to Croatia through Interpol’s channels the same day.
The body of a Kurukshetra youth, Parminder Singh (23), who was killed en route Italy on the “donkey route” in 2022 has been identified by matching the DNA of his mother.
A “donkey route” is an illegitimate way of entering a foreign country by traversing through and making multiple stops at other nations.
A police spokesperson said a digital format DNA profile was collected by the Haryana police in Interpol standardised format and transmitted to Croatia through Interpol’s 24x7 channels the same day.
The spokesperson said that in a first-of-its-kind case, the state police did not resort to lengthy procedures like mutual legal assistance treaty or letter rogatory in DNA investigations. Instead, the police established enhanced coordination with the CBI and Interpol officials to make identification of the mortal remains by matching the DNA of a blood relative.
This is a first case where DNA matching has been done through 24x7 Interpol channels using Interpol standardised digital format, the spokesperson said.
Initially, the state police had collected a DNA sample which could not be sent through Interpol channels. A digital format DNA profile was, however, collected by the police in Interpol standardised format and transmitted to Croatia through Interpol’s 24x7 channels the same day.
The police had received the digital profile of DNA from CFSL, Chandigarh
The spokesperson said Kurukshetra resident Paramjeet Kaur of Talhi Farm in Murtazapur had filed a complaint stating that her son Parminder Singh was promised migration to Italy by Pehowa shopkeeper Gaurav Gupta. The accused had also promised a job for Parminder in Italy. Parminder was reportedly flown to a foreign destination in January 2022. As per a first information report, Gaurav Gupta called Paramjit on January 25 last year to inform that her son has reached Serbia. He also demanded that ₹4 lakh be sent to him. Gupta called again on January 28, 2022, to inform Paramjit that her son was being flown to Italy and ₹8 lakh be paid to him. Both amounts were paid to Gupta as per Paramjit’s complaint. On February 14, 2022, Parminder sent a voice message using WhatsApp to his mother stating that he was being sent through the “donkey route” and his mobile was being confiscated, the FIR said.
The police spokesperson said Paramjit later came to know that an unidentified body had been found in Croatia, which she suspected to be that of her son Parminder Singh. The complainant alleged that Gupta and others had allegedly killed her son out of greed for money. Based on her complaint, a formal case under Sections 406, 420 of the IPC and Section 10 and 24 of the Immigration Act was registered at Pehowa.
A case was also filed in the Punjab and Haryana high court for identification of his body in Croatia. In compliance of high court orders, the DNA sample of Paramjit Kaur was collected by the Kurukshetra police and sent to Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh, for DNA profiling.
The Central Bureau of Investigation-International Police Cooperation Unit filed a status report in the High Court detailing the communication made with NCB-Zagreb (Croatia) and the steps being taken to identify the subject.
The DNA sequence was mailed by NCB-New Delhi to NCB Zagreb (Croatia). The spokesperson said it was matched by Croatian authorities and a positive identification was given on February 13.
The spokesperson said the relatives of the deceased have been informed about the identification. Though the body has been buried by the Croatian authorities, the family members will now proceed to claim the last mortal remains from Croatia with the assistance of the Government of India, the spokesperson said.
