The Punjab Police set up a Special Investigation Team on Saturday to probe a suspected human trafficking case related to Indian passengers on an aircraft run by Romania’s Legend Airlines, originally destined for Nicaragua, but detained in France. Though the passengers have now returned to India, no victim has yet come forward to register any case.
Police sources said that in cases of illegal or irregular migration, victims usually do not register complaints as they have often willingly opted for the so-called ‘donkey route’ to emigrate and are aware of the risks in the process. In fact, victims often strike compromises with the agents accused of facilitating illegal migration and turn hostile or quash the first information report (FIR) in court. Agents based outside India are also difficult to trace, the police sources added.
An A340 Airbus chartered for a flight by a Romanian company named Legend Airlines took off from Fujaiarah in the United Arab Emirates on December 22, headed for Nicaragua in Central America. The flight had a technical stopover at France’s Vatry airport, but was grounded there after the local French administration received an anonymous tip-off about probable ‘human trafficking’. After four days at the Vatry Airport, the flight with 276 passengers was sent to Mumbai on December 26. While 25 passengers chose to apply for asylum in France, two passengers were made assisted witnesses in the French investigation.
