Balachaur youth trying to reach Greece illegally drowns in river

BALACHAUR: Aspiring to live a better life abroad, Manjinder Kumar (26) of Majhot village in Balachaur subdivision of SBS Nagar district is believed to have drowned in a river around 12 days ago while trying to enter Greece illegally.

Police on Tuesday booked three persons, including a travel agent, here.

Manjinder’s family came to know about his death on Monday after a youth, who was accompanying him and witnessed the incident, told them about the incident.

The 26-year-old had boarded a flight on June 19 from Delhi after his travel agent Rakesh Kumar assured the family to send him to Greece for ₹5.50 lakh, said the victim’s father Tarsem Lal.

He said ₹1.50 lakh were given in advance along with passport to the agent initially.

Lal said agent Rakesh called Manjinder to Delhi to collect his passport with a Greece visa. The agent told him that his flight is on June 19 and asked to give ₹2.50 lakh to his aide at the airport, he added.

“Manjinder and my other elder son Bhupinder Pal reached Delhi and handed over ₹2.5 lakh to the agent’s aide. After checking the passport my son found that the visa and ticket were of Turkey and not of Greece. Later, the agent assured us that he will take Manjinder to Greece from Turkey on another flight and asked us to give the remaining amount of ₹1.5 lakh to his wife, which we did the next day,” he claimed.

A case was registered against Rakesh Kumar, his wife Bholli and an unidentified person.