A district court in Minnesota in the US indicted two persons – Gujarati-origin Harshkumar Patel also identified as ‘Dirty Harry’ and Steven Shand – for deaths of four members of a Patel family from Dingucha near Gandhinagar in Jan 2022.
Jagdish Patel, 39, his wife Vaishali, 37, daughter Vihangi, 11, and son Dharmik, 3, froze to death while attempting to cross Canada-US border illegally 12 metres from the border due to lack of direction. The incident caused an uproar in the Indian community in Canada and US while putting the deadly dreams of Gujaratis under sharp focus. According to the court document, the counts (charges) against Patel and Shand include ‘conspiracy to bring aliens to the US causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, aiding and abetting bringing aliens to the US, transportation of aliens in the US causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, and transportation of aliens in the US for purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain’.
Canadian Broadcast Corporation had reported that Harry was the person who instructed Shand to bring a group of Indians illegally. While Patel is in judicial custody, Shand is out on bail.
Shand was apprehended by the US authorities on Jan 19, 2022, a day after the incident, with seven illegal Indian immigrants from Gujarat in his van. Patel was apprehended by the US authorities from Chicago in Feb and emerged as the major figure in the investigation that involved police from India, Canada and the US.
The case papers show that both Shand and Patel are residents of Florida and were involved in five illegal immigration events at the Canada-US border in Dec 2021 and Jan 2022. Two cases against Shand and Patel were combined and a superseding indictment was filed in the Minnesota court.
