Gangster Deepak ‘Boxer’ flee India using human trafficking ring. What police say

Deepak Pahal alias Boxer used a human trafficking ring that sends people to the United States through ‘Donkey Routes’

Gangster Deepak Pahal alias Boxer, 26, used a human trafficking ring that sends people from India to the US through what is known as “Donkey Routes” to escape India after the August 23 murder of a builder in north Delhi’s Burari, the Delhi Police special cell said in a charge sheet filed against him and 14 others in a separate case of extortion and criminal conspiracy.

Deepak Boxer reached out to Lawrence Bishnoi in jail through his conduits, seeking his help to flee India. Bisnnoi’s associates told Boxer that they can help him flee to the US. (PTI)

The charge sheet, filed in a Delhi court on July 3, mentioned that Pahal accessed the trafficking ring using his links in the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Pahal travelled for 90 days from Kolkata to Mexico facilitated by a network of agents, including a Mexico-based Pakistani person, who is known by his surname “Ali”, the special cell officials said.

According to the officials, the 250-page charge sheet details how Boxer embarked on his 90-day journey from Kolkata to the US on the fake documents and a passport issued under a fictitious name, Ravi Antil, from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh on an address in Moradabad.

Citing disclosures by Boxer and 14others arrested in the extortion case of March 16, the special cell said that trafficking agents promised to take Boxer to the US through the “donkey route” -- a term used by traffickers, mostly in Punjab, to illegally push migrants into the western countries – primarily the US – using touts and agents.

“Before Boxer fled India through the “donkey route” in January, at least two members of Bishnoi gang and gangster Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu fled the country using the same channel for entering a foreign country with multiple stopovers. The Delhi Police through Interpol have already issued red notices a global arrest warrant, against the fugitives. Their names cannot be disclosed because our law enforcement agencies are making efforts to bring them back to India –either through extradition or the same way Boxer was brought back from Mexico in the first week of April,” said a special cell officer, who is associated with the case.

The officers said that the charge sheet also include disclosures of four human trafficking agents – Gavin Grang, 30, from Patiala in Punjab, and Amit Gulati, 31, from Chandigarh, Sachin Maan, 30, and Sandeep Narwal, 32, both from Karnal in Haryana – about how they together helped Boxer in escaping India.

The four have told police that they have sent hundreds of people from across India to the US and other western countries through the Donkey Route. Interrogation of the four agents showed that they worked for three key ‘donkers’ based in Mexico, known only as Ali, Max and Kumar. Ali is from Pakistan while Max is from Haryana and Kumar is from south India, the officer added.

Donkers are the facilitators who operate in foreign countries and help illegal migrants through their transit to their desired destinations through the Doney channel. The Donkers offer two ways of transit to the US – first is the flight route for which they charge between ₹40 to ₹50 lakh, and the other is perilous journey through dense forests of Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala for which they charge between ₹20 and ₹30 lakh, said another special cell officer, who interrogated the agents.

The investigating team has also charge sheeted the two Moradabad-based agents -- Mehfooz Khan alias Bhura, 47, and Mohammad Junaid, 25 -- who helped Boxer get the fake IDs on which they he got a passport issued in Bareilly in the fictitious name of Ravi Antil.

Soon after the murder of Jitender Mann alias Gogi, Boxer emerged as the new leader of the Gogi gang. Following the murder of Amit Gupta, a builder in Burari, Boxer claimed responsibility for the crime in a social media post, saying that he and his associates killed Gupta because he was associated with a rival gang. The audacious claim led the police brass order the special cell launch an all-out effort to nab Boxer. Soon, multiple teams began raiding his hideouts in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, interrogating his family members, relatives, confidants and jailed gang members, the first officer added

As the police started tightening the noose around him, Boxer reached out to Lawrence Bishnoi in jail through his conduits, seeking his help to flee India. Bisnnoi’s associates told Boxer that they can help him flee to the US.

“Boxer was given two choices – to either opt for the flight route by paying ₹45 lakh or use the forest route by paying half the amount. He explained both the routes, their advantages and disadvantages, and the risks... Boxer chose the flight route after learning that following his arrival in Costa Rica in a flight, the trafficking agents will make him walk several miles through the dense forests of Panama and El Salvador to enter Mexico City,” the officer said.

Around November, Boxer was told that the process of his departure from India for the US was initiated, and he will soon be notified about the travel agents who will help him get his new IDs and passport. He was told that he would be provided with a mobile phone and code words like “Jai Mahakal” and “Jai Mahadeo” to be used while speaking with the agents, the police said.

In the first week of December, a “donkey channel” facilitator met Boxer in Delhi and gave him a cellphone that only had one number saved on the contact list in the name of “Sharma Jee”. Soon, he was contacted by the same number and asked to reach Moradabad to complete the formalities to get his identification documents and passport.

“During that period, Boxer had long hair, bread and a mustache. The IDs and passport prepared in the name of Ravi Antil were handed over to him. Thereafter, he was provided with a flight ticket to Dubai. He left India from the Kolkata airport as Ravi Antil on January 6 this year and reached Dubai,” said the second officer.

According to special commissioner of police (special cell) HGS Dhaliwal, Boxer was received at the Dubai airport by a member of the “donkey channel” whose job was to arrange his local accommodation and next flight ticket to Almaty in Kazakhstan along with the paper visa. After illegal migrants such as Boxer reach Almaty, their next destination via flight is Istanbul in Turkey, before heading to the Caribbean.

Special cell officers said Boxer flew to Suriname and stayed there for nearly 20 days. From there, he was sent back to Port of Spain and then Panama City.

“From Panama City, Boxer reached San Jose, capital of Costa Rica in a light and further to El Salvador, where he reached on March 1. After staying there for a few days, the agents helped him cross Guatemala by road trips in cars and trucks and from there he reached Mexico by road on March 19. In Mexico, he was received ant agent named Ali, whose job was to ensure Boxer’s entry to the US,” said the special cell officer.

Police arrested the four traffickers, Gulati, Grang, Narwal and Maan, who told them about the whereabouts of Ali. A special cell team of investigators led by Inspector Gagan Bhaskar contacted Ali and warned him that his illegal trafficking business would be exposed before the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), if he did not cooperate the Delhi Police team in arresting Boxer.

“Ali panicked and he agreed to cooperate with us. He told us that Boxer has been given a new passport in the name of Sarwan Singh. The information was shared with senior officers, who arranged permission from the central government to send our team to Mexico and nab Boxer with the help of the US federal and intelligence officials, and Interpol and Mexican immigration agencies,” said Inspector Bhaskar. According to the inspector, by the time they reached Mexico, Boxer reached Cancun to flee Mexico. Local officials were alerted , and Boxer was arrested from Cancun airport by the special cell team.