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NIA arrests duo involved in human trafficking to US via donkey route
Both accused, Sunny, alias Sunny Donker, of Dharamshala in Kangra district in Himachal and Shubham Sandhal, alias Deep Hundi, of Ropar in Punjab, were arrested in Delhi on Friday.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested two key men allegedly involved in human trafficking to the US via the illegal “donkey” route, officials said on Saturday.
The arrests came after searches at a location each in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. The accused, Sunny, alias Sunny Donker, of Dharamshala in Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh, and Shubham Sandhal, alias Deep Hundi, of Ropar in Punjab, who was living in Outer Delhi’s Peeragarhi, were arrested on Friday, the NIA said in a statement.
Both, the probe agency said, were accomplices of Gagandeep Singh, alias Goldy, who was arrested in March.
Gagandeep was arrested on a complaint of a victim, who was trafficked to the US using the illegal route and was deported to India this February.
The term donkey route refers to an illegal pathway that immigrants take to enter countries like the United States without proper documentation. The risky and arduous travel is usually facilitated by a human-trafficking syndicate.
The NIA had chargesheeted Gagandeep Singh, a resident of Tilak Nagar in New Delhi, in the case on June 27.
According to the NIA investigation, Gagandeep used to take around ₹45 lakh from each traveller and would promise to send them to the US on a valid legal visa. He would send these people on an arduous journey via multiple countries, including Spain, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico, the probe agency said.
Gagandeep sent more than 100 people illegally to the US in this manner before he was arrested, it said.
Sunny, the main accomplice of Gagandeep’s gang, played a key role in facilitating the illegal travel, the NIA said.
Their victims were physically and mentally harassed on the way by the agents seeking to make more money, it said.
Shubham Sandhal was a hawala courier operator, involved in transferring funds to the agents in Latin America, the probe agency said. Gagandeep used him to transfer part of the money taken from the victims to the agents in Latin America.
The NIA, which took over the case from Punjab Police on March 13, 2025, continues its investigation, the statement said.
