Kapurthala youth trying to enter US illegally ‘drowns’ in Panama canal
KAPURTHALA : Sunil Kumar, 24, a resident of Nadala town in Kapurthala district, is believed to have drowned in the canal in Panama around 10 days ago while trying to enter the United States (US) illegally.
Family members came to know about their only son’s death on Monday after a Haryana youth, who accompanied Sunil and witnessed the incident, told his family about the incident.
Aspiring to live a better life in the US, Sunil Kumar had boarded a flight on April 24 from Delhi after travel agent Jasbir Singh of Jalandhar assured them to send him to the US for ₹23.5 lakh. His father, Davinder Kumar, said that he was a small shopkeeper and Sunil, brother of two sisters, was the only son of the family. He said that his son left the house on April 21 and boarded a flight from Delhi to Panama City on April 24.
He said the travel agent had assured them that Sunil would reach the US in three months and he had taken ₹19 lakh in advance.
He said the family had last talked to him on June 8 when he was on his way to the US through Panama’s forests. Some Punjabi youths were also with him. But later, he did not contact them.
Davinder Kumar said a Haryana youth, Kawar Singh, came to them on Monday and informed them that his brother Gurjeet Singh, who was also with Sunil, had informed him on phone that he had witnessed the incident in which Sunil was killed.
He said Kawar Singh told him, as per his bother, Sunil was unable to move properly due to some injuries on his foot and when he tried to drink water from the canal there, a local travel agent pushed him into the canal. He was drowned and died. He said that local Punjabi youths informed the Panama authorities about the incident and the Panama officials recovered the body from the canal and cremated the body with the help of local Punjabis 10 days ago. Subhanpur (SHO) Hardeep Singh said that the travel agent is absconding.
KHAIRA URGES CM TO TAKE UP CASE WITH SUSHMA SWARAJ
Chandigarh Leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira has urged chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh to take up the case with minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj and sought a stringent action against the unscrupulous travel agent, who exploited the family of the victim.
“There were many other Punjab youths, who were part of this group being taken by human traffickers to the US border, trough a donkey route,” said Khaira, reminding the CM that he had promised to enact a law to legitimise the issue of immigration to different parts of the world.