Police arrest two agents over death of 4 of family in illegal migration to US
Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 Jan, 2023 12:11 PM
Ahmedabad, Jan 16 (IANS) The Ahmedabad crime branch has arrested two travel agents, who were allegedly responsible for the death of four members of a family in illegal migration to the US. These four people including two minors had frozen to death while illegally crossing from Canada to America in January 2022.
Crime Branch Deputy Commissioner of Police Chaitanya Mandlik told the media on Monday, "On Saturday evening, the crime branch team arrested Bhavesh Patel from Palsana village in Gandhinagar district and Yogesh Patel from Ahmedabad city's Vastrapur area."
They were allegedly involved in illegally sending Jagdish Patel, Vaishali Patel and their children Vihangi and Dharmik to the US. They froze while crossing the Canada-US border near Emerson, on the Canadian side.
The officer said, "Bhavesh and Yogesh sent 11 persons from Kalol and Mehsana to Canada, from where they were asked to cross over to the US illegally. From Canada, two others Fenil Patel and Bittu Paji helped these two agents in an illegal migration racket."
Allegedly, the agents had given these 11 persons instructions that "You have to walk in -35 degree temperature to avoid arrest by Canadian or US security agencies." They were supposed to follow American gas station lights for directions.
With Ukraine closing its airspace after Russia launched a military operation in the country on Thursday, the Indian Embassy in Kiev has asked the Indian nationals to start moving towards the bordering areas so that they can be evacuated safely.
The Indian Embassy in Kiev stated that the helpline numbers are being set up at the respective check-points to facilitate evacuation through the borders. These control rooms will be based in Poland, Romania and Hungary and they will be managed by the Indian officials posted in those countries.
On Thursday, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had stated that Jaishankar has spoken to concerned officials in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia for setting up camps on the border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals.
An official spokesperson said the affected people or their relatives could call from within Punjab on helpline number 1100 and others from outside India on +91-172-4111905 for seeking information in this regard.
Amid crisis related to wearing of hijab in classrooms, an Amritdhari (baptised) Sikh girl was asked to remove her turban in the reputed Mount Carmel PU College here in accordance with the February 10 High Court's interim order. Some parents of the college also complained of being targeted after their daughters were asked to remove the hijab.
