Colombian illegal immigrants targeting Indians in US arrested: Police
Darpan News Desk IANS, 13 Oct, 2022 01:03 PM
New York, Oct 13 (IANS) Police in New York suburbs have announced the arrested of a gang of illegal immigrants from Colombia targeting Indian-origin people and striking fear in the community.
In Hicksville and New Hyde Park, the gang of four would pretend to be public utility workers and follow Indians to their homes to rob them, police in Nassau County adjoining New York City on Long Island said on Wednesday.
Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said at a news conference: "They would watch those coming out of the Patel store or the jewellery store or getting their nails done. They follow them to their residence" and rob them.
Indian-origin people across the US have often been targets of robbers because they are believed to have lots of jewellery.
The four, who had been under surveillance, were caught in another suburb, New Hyde Park, where they had targeted a house after following a woman, police said.
When they tried to pry open a door, the glass broke and a woman inside screamed causing them to try to flee and they were caught by the police surveillance team, Ryder said.
He said that they had an AK-47 automatic rifle, which they had stashed across from the house.
A neighbour, Anita Ramolia told WCBS TV that she saw the police action when she was out walking her dog.
"It's scary. I mean, I'm home and it's constantly on my mind," she told the station.
Another neighbour, Tejal Patel, said: "It happened two blocks from my house, 5 o'clock in morning. It is really terrifying", the station reported.
The station quoted police as saying that 20 to 30 per cent of cases in the area with a similar pattern were likely linked to the four.
According to police, they had entered the US through the border in Arizona, California, and Texas.
Nassau County's top election official, a Republican, slammed the immigration policy of the federal government at the news conference.
County Executive Bruce Blakeman said, "These individuals should never have been allowed to make their way into the United States. They were caught at the border and rather than be detained, they were let go."
Mohammed Kashif in Hicksville told WCBS TV, "The law has to be in place for these guys. It has to be a little more strict so they feel the pain."
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency is developing an initiative for “fair access” to vaccines and treatments that it hopes will be ready within weeks. The mechanism was proposed shortly after Britain, Canada, France, Germany, the U.S. and other countries reported hundreds of monkeypox cases last month.
As of Friday, the U.S. had identified 45 cases in 15 states and the District of Columbia. More than 1,300 cases have been found in about 30 other countries outside the areas of Africa where the virus is endemic.
Officers responded to the Columbia Machine Inc. at around 2:30 p.m, where they found the four victims, the Washington County Sheriff's Office wrote in the latest press release. The suspect fled the scene prior to law enforcement's arrival. The suspect's vehicle was later encountered by Maryland State Police.
The initial mandate allowed those who were fully vaccinated to show proof of a negative test within three days of travel, while unvaccinated people had to present a test taken within one day of travel.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian also rejected accusations that China had not fully cooperated with investigators, saying it welcomed a science-based probe but rejected any political manipulation.
In a report released Thursday, WHO’s expert group said “key pieces of data” to explain how the pandemic began were still missing. The scientists said the group would “remain open to any and all scientific evidence that becomes available in the future to allow for comprehensive testing of all reasonable hypotheses.”
