- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
According to a report, neither India’s federal security agencies nor the police in Gujarat, leading the probe, have shared specific information with their counterparts in Punjab, despite the fact that the passengers being mostly of Punjabi origin, .
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE police in the Indian state of Punjab were yet to start a probe into the case of suspected “human trafficking” involving more than 300 passengers from India, with many believed to be from the northern province.
According to a report by NRI Affairs, despite the fact that the passengers being mostly of Punjabi origin, neither India’s federal security agencies nor the police in the western state of Gujarat, leading the probe, have shared specific information with their counterparts in Punjab.
It was also learnt that no formal complaints related to human trafficking were lodged by individuals from the Indian state.
A number of agencies within the Punjab Police, including the non-resident Indians wing and the Punjab Bureau of Investigation, expressed a lack of communication from federal to state agencies involved in the incident. The police, despite possessing a passenger list saying that nearly 70 per cent of the individuals are of Punjabi origin, await key information, such as whether the passengers gave right identities in their passports.
According to the NRI Affairs report, the lack of coordination challenges the investigation and the Punjab Police’s capacity to effectively probe the matter.
Last month, the police in France took two individuals into custody after its authorities grounded a plane headed for Nicaragua. It was carrying over 300 Indian passengers on suspicion of “human trafficking”.
The plane — an Airbus A340 — operated by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines, had taken off from the UAE and made a technical stopover in France’s Vaity airport. The grounding happened following an anonymous tip-off that alleged that some passengers were potential “victims of human trafficking”.
The aircraft later landed in Mumbai and the Indian embassy in France thanked the authorities of that country for its quick resolution and allowing the passengers to return home.
