Jalandhar youth stuck in Ukraine for year, 2 booked
JALANDHAR: A 23-year-old man of Jalandhar district, who wanted to go to Germany, has been stuck in Ukraine for a year after a travel agent took away his passport.
The victim, Gagandeep Singh of Mirpur village of Nakodar subdivision, left home for Germany on March 13, 2018 after paying ₹10 lakh to two travel agents, Palwinder Singh and Manjeet Singh of Mirpur. However, the duo sent him to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and later to Ukraine.
Victim’s father Amrik Singh, 63, said the agents initially told him that due to some technical problem in his visa he had to stay in Ukraine for a week, after which he would be sent to Germany by road. The agents made Gagandeep stay in a city of Ukraine at the house of a local agent.
“After a month’s stay in Ukraine, the local agent took away his passport. After around six months in September 2018, the agent threw him out of the house,” Amrik said.
After that he has been living at the house of a man of Punjab origin, where a man hailing from Kapurthala is also living, he added. “I have been sending him Rs 10,000 every month for his expenses. I am already under debt of Rs 10 lakh. Now the Ukraine agent is demanding Rs 7 lakh to return the passport of my son,” he said.
He added that his son is living a pitiable life there and he may have to facelegal action due to the fraud committed by the agents.
Sub-inspector (SI) of Bhogapur police station Kulwant Singh said that on the basis of inquiry conducted by the anti-human trafficking cell, a case has been registered against the two agents under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 342 (wrongful confinement), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the relevant sections of the Punjab Travel Professionals’ Regulation Act. He said efforts are on to nab the accused.
The SI said that as per the complaint, Gagandeep was not allowed to even move around until he was being thrown out from the house by the agent.
Notably, as many as 1,257 first information reports (FIRS) were registered against 3,000 travel agents in Doaba region between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2018. At least, 10 people from the region have lost their lives while attempting to reach foreign countries illegally.
Most travel agents that have been booked are yet to be arrested and authorities seem to be dilly-dallying on declaring them as proclaimed offenders.
GAGANDEEP SINGH,
23, WHO WANTED TO GO TO GERMANY, WAS SENT TO UKRAINE BY 2 TRAVEL AGENTS OF HIS VILLAGE IN NAKODAR SUBDIVISION; HE PAID ₹10 LAKH TO THEM