A case of suspected human trafficking has been registered after 14 Indian nationals from Punjab travelled from Amritsar to the United Kingdom without valid visas and later sought asylum there on January 11 police said.
According to the FIR the incident appears to involve a larger network including possible links to airline staff and travel agents and the complaint mentions that some employees of Air India at Amritsar airport may be involved and it also points to the role of multiple travel agents who arranged the tickets for the passengers.
The 14 individuals have been identified as Jadwinder Singh, Gursewak Singh, Navjot Singh Aulakh, Ravinder Pal Singh Randhawa, Harwinder Singh Dhaliwal, Inderjeet Singh, Harbans Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Kiranpreet Kaur, Navjot Singh, Amandeep Singh, Harmanjot Singh and Mandeep Singh.
Police said the tickets were booked through different agents including Travel Boutique Online a Gurugram-based travel distribution platform and other agencies named include Lords Travel Pvt Ltd, along with agents operating from Gurugram, Mumbai and Delhi’s Paharganj area.
Investigators also found that in 10 out of the 14 cases the same mobile number was used to provide passenger details raising suspicion of coordinated planning.
The case has been registered under Section 143(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act, 2012 and the FIR was lodged on April 21 at the State Crime Police Station in Phase 4 following inputs from the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
During initial enquiries Travel Boutique Online informed police that a Ludhiana-based agency, Sardarsons Travels had requested ticket bookings for two of the passengers.
Police said further investigation is underway to identify all those involved and to uncover the full network behind the alleged trafficking operation.
