The trial of two men accused of orchestrating a smuggling operation that ended up with an Indian family freezing to death in a blizzard while attempting to cross the U.S.-Canada border is set to begin in Minnesota. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, an Indian national, and Steve Shand, a Florida resident, face charges related to human trafficking and culpable homicide.
The case stems from the deaths of Jagdish Patel (no relation to the man on trial), his wife Vaishaliben, and their two children of 11 and 3 years of age. The family, who had traveled from Gujarat, India, to Canada on visitor visas, attempted to cross the border into Minnesota on foot when they were caught in extreme weather, with temperatures plunging to -35°C (-31°F), as BBC News reports. Their bodies were found just meters from the border.
