Police register FIR five months after youth killed in Serbia
Kin had filed a complaint against travel agent accusing him of duping them on Dec 25 last year
JALANDHAR : A family, whose 23-year-old Italy aspirant son, was allegedly killed in Serbia by members of a human smuggling racket in December 2017, got a ray of hope of getting justice after the local police finally registered a criminal case against a travel agent on Thursday five months after a complaint was filed on December 25 last year.
The agent, allegedly a part of the human smuggling racket, had ‘duped’ the family of ₹9.5 lakh on the pretext of sending Veerpal Singh of Gidderpindi village near Shahkot to Italy on a work permit, but he was instead sent to Serbia.
His family came to know about the tragedy two days later when two Ferozepur-based youths, who were also duped by the same travel agent, revealed about the death of their son over phone.
Veerpal’s father Karam Singh, 56, ran pillar to post to get a case registered, but the all his pleas allegedly fell on deaf ears. He said he met the SHO and the SSP concerned and even wrote several letters to chief minister
AGENT HAD ‘DUPED’ FAMILY OF ₹9.5 LAKH ON PRETEXT OF SENDING VEERPAL SINGH OF GIDDERPINDI TO ITALY, BUT HE WAS INSTEAD SENT TO SERBIA WHERE HE WAS KILLED
Capt Amarinder Singh and DGP Suresh Arora, but in vain. Even after an assurance of positive action by DGP, the local police had not taken any action against the accused travel agent.
The family also filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High court in April against the police. Following this, the local police swung into action and have now registered a case against accused agent, Harminder Pal alias Masih, who is a resident of Sailkiyana village in the district.
The case has been registered under sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) 420 (cheating), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and under relevant sections of the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act.
Inquiring officer ASI Mandeep Singh said that no arrest has been so far as the accused agent is absconding.
As per the FIR, the travel agent had fraudulently sent the youth to Serbia rather than sending him to Italy on November 5 last year, but when he landed in Serbia, he was held captive and later pushed into a canal.
Two Punjabi youths, Sandeep Singh and Gurbhej Singh of Ferozepur, who were witness of the crime somehow returned during the last week of December, 2017, the FIR states.
Singh said that he is a poor farmer owning 1.5 acre land in his village. “I had borrowed ₹9.5 lakh from a commission agent and relatives to send his younger son to Italy,” Karam alleged.
Veerpal’s mother Joginder Kaur, who was inconsolable and broke into tears for several times while speaking to HT, said, “My son wanted to change our fate, but the agent cheated and took the life of my son.” The couple has a 26-year-old daughter and a 24-year-old son. His son helps him in fields.