Kapurthala police registers case against two immigration agents
Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal
Sultanpur Lodhi (Punjab), February 16, 2025 -The Kapurthala police are searching for two immigration agents who a US deportee based in Sultanpur Lodhi has accused of defrauding him and charging him more than the agreed amount to ensure his "safe passage" through the "donkey route".
Gurpreet Singh, a resident of village Taraf Nehbal Bahadur, said that the agents have taken additional money from his family in his absence than promised. The police have registered a case against immigration agent Maninder, a resident of Sherpur in Ludhiana, and Dharminder, a resident of Paharganj in Delhi, under relevant sections of the BNS, on charges of cheating, human trafficking and breach of trust.
Gurpreet, a 10th class passout, said that he got Maninder Singh's contact number from a friend.
Gurpreet said that Maninder told him that he would be sent to the US via Mexico within a month for Rs 38 lakh. Gurpreet alleged that despite the original agreed amount being Rs 38 lakh, the two agents took Rs 40 lakh from his family. Additional Inspector General of Police (NRI Wing), Jalandhar, Balbir Singh Bhatti said, “The agents will be traced soon.”
Gurpreet took a flight to Guyana on August 28 and arrived there the next day. A partner of the agents took him to a hotel, where Gurpreet stayed for 25 days. From Guyana, he was taken through Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, and then on foot via the "donkey route" to Panama.
He was immediately arrested in Panama and held in a camp by the police for 15 days along with three others. A police bus then took them to Honduras and Guatemala.From Guatemala, the donkeys took them to Mexico. On January 15, he went to the United States, where he was arrested.