Gujarat Police has organised teams to crack down on the suspected illegal immigration network including the ‘agents’. It has further plans to coordinate with the passengers of the plane that landed in Mumbai from France on December 26, a senior officer said. He mentioned that many passengers hail from Gujarat.
Airbus A340, carrying 276 passengers, mostly citizens of Bharat, was grounded in France for four days over suspected human trafficking.
“The CID crime is set to initiate action against agents who had promised the victims to give them entry in the US and other countries via illegal means. A total of four teams have been formed to get information from the victims regarding the promises made to them by these agents,” said Superintendent of Police, CID (Crime), Sanjay Kharat.
Majority of the passengers on the chartered plane returning from France were from districts of Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana and Anand.
Police will further try to gather information regarding the number of people who have been flown abroad this way, and who all are seeking to travel in this manner, the SP said. He said the CID has received “raw information” regarding the agents involved but will be able to find out more only after questioning the concerned passengers. Mr Kharat said different agents involved in illegal immigration work in tandem.
“The small players are generally agents working at the village and district levels controlled by the kingpin who works at the international level,” he added.
“Varying modus operandi are employed by a number agencies depending on the requirement of people seeking to migrate like whether they require forged documents etc., and rates are set accordingly,” the SP said.
The charter flight, operated by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines and bound for Nicaragua, had landed at Vatry near Paris on December 21 for a technical stopover en route from Dubai when French police intervened.
French authorities immediately started a judicial investigation into the purpose of the trip, with a unit focused in organised crime investigating suspected human trafficking.
In Mumbai, immigration authorities are currently enquiring 276 passengers, an official said, adding no passenger was detained and they were allowed to leave the airport by 11:30 am.
