Ludhiana: 5 booked for human trafficking on complaint by US deportee’s wife
The case was registered after a complaint by Hardeep Kaur, wife of US deportee Gurwinder Singh from Sasrali Colony in Meharban; she alleged the accused facilitated Gurwinder’s illegal migration to the US using ‘fraudulent’ means
The Meharban police on Tuesday registered a case against five accused, including an ex-sarpanch, on fraud and human trafficking charges for allegedly arranging the US trip of a local who was among the deportees, officials said.
The case was registered after a complaint by Hardeep Kaur, wife of US deportee Gurwinder Singh from Sasrali Colony in Meharban. She alleged the accused facilitated Gurwinder’s illegal migration to the US using ‘fraudulent’ means.
Gurwinder was in the second batch of deportees who reached India on February 15 amid a crackdown on illegal immigrants by the Donald Trump administration. A total of 333 migrants from India, including 156 from Punjab, have been sent back so far.
The first-information report (FIR) was registered under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 370 (trafficking of persons) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and section 24 of the Immigration Act. Police identified the accused as Charanjit Singh, former sarpanch of Sasrali Colony, travel agent Nishant Kumar from Lucknow, Sandeep Kumar from Delhi, Ravinder Deol from Mohali and Satnam Singh.
According to investigating officer assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Gurbakhshish Singh, Gurwinder had multiple cases registered against him in Ludhiana and Faridkot, which meant he should not have been able to get police clearance for overseas travel. The complainant alleges Nishant Kumar, a Lucknow-based agent, arranged a new passport for Gurwinder under a fake address in Lucknow. She said Kumar charged ₹12 lakh.
Hardeep alleged that before reaching the US, Gurwinder was sent to other countries but was deported from there. She claimed the accused charged a total ₹69 lakh from the family for multiple trips.
Police said the investigations confirm Gurwinder entered the US via ‘dunki’ route in January, only to be detained and deported.
The ASI added that the police are still verifying the claims made by Hardeep Kaur. Gurwinder is in judicial custody and authorities plan to bring him on a production warrant for questioning, he said, adding that Gurwinder could face legal action if it confirmed that he used fake documents to obtain his passport.
Gurwinder was arrested by Jamalpur police on Sunday soon after he reached Ludhiana. Gurwinder has three cases registered against him, including two snatching cases at the Jamalpur police station in Ludhiana in 2021 and 2022 and a broad daylight robbery in Faridkot in 2022. He was first booked by Jamalpur police for allegedly robbing a labourer of ₹1,500, a mobile phone and a wallet.
Later, he was booked by Jamalpur police for allegedly robbing two men of ₹500 and two mobile phones. Gurwinder and his aides had allegedly barged into a house in Faridkot on July 16, 2022, and robbed a woman of ₹15.5 lakh and jewellery after injuring her. A case was registered at the city police station in Faridkot.
The accused was bailed out but started skipping the court hearings. He was declared a proclaimed (PO) offender in the 2021 snatching case and non-bailable warrants were issued against him.
On February 16, a third US military aircraft carrying another 112 Indian immigrants landed at the Amritsar airport, taking the number of deportees brought back from America amid a crackdown by the Donald Trump administration against illegal immigrants to 333.
Of the 112 deportees, 44 were from Haryana, followed by 33 from Gujarat, 31 from Punjab, two from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The deportees also included 19 women and 14 minors, including two infants.
On February 15, a US military aircraft brought the second batch of 117 illegal immigrants. Of these 65 were from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, and two each from Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier on February 5, the first batch of 104 Indian imRmigrants were brought to Amritsar in a US military aircraft. Of the deportees in the first batch, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat, and 30 from Punjab.
