JALANDHAR: At least seven young men have disappeared from Punjab without a single trace, while trying to enter the USA illegally. The disappearance has raised alarms of human trafficking from the states. The victims reportedly last called home from the Bahamas and Panama, informing they would soon be taking a boat the US, only to leave with no news.
A group consisting of six friends from Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, and Amritsar went missing in the Bahamas three months ago. They had last called up home on August 2, saying their handlers had taken away their passports and would be taking away their mobile phones as well, as they take a boat to the US. Of those missing, families of three had struck a deal of Rs 35,00,000 with travel agents, and had paid Rs 12,00,000. The other three had paid Rs 52,00,000 after taking hefty loans and selling property.
While one of the agents has returned the money to the families, the other has returned just a part of the fees. In a similar case, a young man from Hoshiarpur, Gurpreet Singh, 19, is believed to have drowned along the coast of Panama after he accidentally slipped from the boat he was travelling in, and fell into the sea. He had flown from Delhi on October 7 to an unknown destination. His family was told he was going directly to the US. However, on October 24, he called up his mother to say that he had reached Panama along with other Punjabi youths.
