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.
The area around the Intelligence Bureau office has been sealed and investigation is in progress. A bomb disposal and forensic squads have been positioned at the spot. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann spoke to Director General of Police V.K. Bhawra and sought details about the incident.
Notably, the police detained several people, including party workers, who were not allowing the SDMC to carry out the demolition drive at Shaheen Bagh. After the agitation was quelled, the bulldozer moved forward to demolish the illegal encroachment, an iron structure in front of a building. It is at this juncture that Khan reached the spot and was seen speaking to the officials.
Punjab shares a 553-km barbed-wire fenced international border with Pakistan which is under the vigil of nearly 135 BSF battalions. The drug network operates along the Afghanistan-Pakistan-India route.
Police are looking at this angle. The incident took place near Kengeri at 1 a.m. and the injured were shifted to nearby hospitals. According to the police, the bus had first hit the 4-feet tall road divider and then rammed into the Namma Metro Pillar number 545.
Chairing a meeting of the Special Task Force (STF) team led by its chief Harpreet Sidhu here, Mann said neither political persons nor officers would be spared if found conniving with the drug mafia. He told the police officers to work freely without any political pressure with a sharpened focus to make Punjab a drug-free state.
According to the SHO of Cantonment police station, Rajeev Singh, Ram Lakhan's wife informed the police that her husband had confessed to killing their son following a fight with her. A police team went looking for the 'body' but could not find the child.
