Ambala police on Wednesday arrested local travel agent Gurjant Singh in connection with the deportation of youth Jitesh Walia from America. Gurjant, a resident of Ambala City, was produced before a court and remanded in police custody for five days.
The arrest comes after a complaint filed by Sushil Kumar Walia, a retired police official and father of Jitesh. According to Sushil Kumar, Gurjant Singh, along with associates Jasvinder Singh, Amrik Singh, Prashant and Chacha Hyderabad, promised to secure an overseas settlement for his son in return for a fee of Rs 40 lakh. The money was transferred in multiple instalments to account numbers provided by the agents.
Sushil Kumar alleged, “Jitesh was first taken to Delhi and kept there in a hotel for a week and then sent to Dubai where he stayed for next 20-25 days and then sent to Kazakhstan where he stayed for 15 days and then Ethiopia. After staying in Ethiopia for the next 14 days, Jitesh was brought back to Dubai and then sent to the Netherlands where he stayed for one week. From the Netherlands Jitesh was brought back to India and after keeping him there in a hotel for nine days, he was sent back to Dubai. He again came back to Delhi from Dubai and then sent to Suriname. From Suriname his four-month long journey started by car, bus, on foot and boats, and on January 18 this year he was sent to America through the Mexico border where he was caught and deported to India,” he claimed.
A case has been registered at the Sector-9 police station under the Immigration Act, along with charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal conspiracy and human trafficking. The police are currently probing the network, with Gurjant Singh’s arrest expected to lead to further revelations about the activities of his accomplices.
In a separate incident, another FIR was lodged at the Naraingarh police station following a complaint by Shubham Saini, a resident of Dehar village. Saini alleged that he was similarly duped, having paid Rs 42 lakh to a travel agent before being deported from America.
