Even as Gujarat continues to mourn the death of four of a family in Canada while trying to cross over to the United States, a case of illegal immigration agents holding 15 persons captive for three months has come to light. The victims, who were wanting to go to Canada, have now been freed by police on Sunday.
They were held captive in New Delhi and Kolkata for nearly three months.
They were made to ring up to their families and tell them that they were detained in Canada and needed money. The agents extorted an estimated Rs 3.75 crore from them.
According to Gandhinagar Police, four persons (two couples) were kept captive in New Delhi and the others in hotels and homes in Kolkata. Among those rescued includes a two-year-old girl.
The victims hail from North Gujarat and Ahmedabad.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had asked minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi to look into the matter following which Gandhinagar Police formed teams.
The teams formed by Gandhinagar Range IG Abhay Chudasama and Gandhinagar SP Mayur Chavda busted the illegal immigration racket.
According to sources, two agents, Rajesh Patel from Ranip area of Ahmedabad and Ramesh Patel from Nava Naroda, have been detained. Further inquiry is on.
All the victims were rescued from Delhi and brought to Gujarat.
These agents are believed to have been working in close coordination with their associates in other states.
Shital Patel, her husband and their minor daughter, all residents of Vasai-Dabhla village in Mehsana district, were among the victims rescued by police from Delhi.
Narrating her ordeal, Patel said, "We left for Kolkata on November 12 last year as the agents promised to take us to the US from there. But, we were kidnapped by the agents in Kolkata. They took away my daughter and asked me to arrange money to save her.”
Talking to reporters in Gandhinagar after arriving in Gujarat, the woman said they were illegally kept in custody by the agents for three months.
"Though we had given them money after selling our house and farm, the agents did not send us to the US. When they learnt that police had started an investigation, the agents took us to Delhi, from where we were rescued by the Gujarat Police," she said.
Another victim Nisha Patel, from Kharna village in Gandhinagar, claimed she and her husband Tejas Patel were tortured on gunpoint for nearly three months.
"The agents had promised that my husband and I would reach the US in just two weeks. They took us to Kolkata in December last year and told us that they will first take us to Canada. But, they kidnapped us and locked us in a room to extort money from our family in Gujarat," she said.
The woman alleged that the agents would put a gun on her husband's head and force him to call his father to say they had reached Canada and that all was well.
"After some days, they forced my husband to tell his father that we have landed in the US and the money promised to the agents should be paid. This was their tactic of extorting money," she said.
During the couple's illegal confinement in Kolkata, the agents robbed them at gunpoint of gold jewellery and cash worth Rs 8.09 lakh, including $10,000, as per the FIR registered by the Mansa police.
Another person, Akash Patel, from New Ranip area of Ahmedabad, said he and his wife allegedly lost Rs 5.35 lakh, which they had paid as advance to some fraud agents to reach the US via Canada.
He is now urging people to stay away from illegal agents and to go abroad only through legal means.
"I was not with the group that was allegedly kidnapped. My agents were nice to me and my family. However, I lost Rs 5.35 lakh which I had paid in advance to the fraud agents," Akash said.
The man said he wanted to go to the US because of "unemployment and lack of government jobs here".
"The recruitment exams for which I was preparing got cancelled. My wife had cleared an exam, but it was also cancelled by the government. I used to ferry school children in the past. The business was going on well. But, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools were not functioning and I did not have any work," he said.
—With PTI inputs