MOHALI, Feb. 19—Police have registered a case against two Ambala-based travel agents for allegedly facilitating the illegal migration of an 18-year-old Punjab youth to the United States.
The accused, Gurjinder Singh and Mukul, were booked on Monday at Majri Police Station after Taranveer Singh, a resident of Khera village, was deported from the U.S. in the second military flight organized by American authorities.
This marks the second immigration fraud case against the duo in 10 days. With the latest FIR, the number of such cases filed in Punjab has risen to 11. “Raids are being conducted outside Punjab, and further investigation is underway,” said Station House Officer (SHO) Suneel Kumar, adding that no arrests have been made so far.
Taranveer, who was detained by U.S. authorities around Jan. 27, returned to India on Saturday in a military flight that landed in Amritsar.
According to his complaint, he had approached Gurjinder last year through a friend, Gursaran Singh. The agent allegedly promised to arrange legal travel to the U.S. via flight or cruise ship for ₹45 lakh. Taranveer handed over his passport on July 10, 2024, but was instead subjected to a harrowing journey.
“I had to stay in Colombia for four months, endure harsh travel conditions, and face abuse from agents,” he stated. He also described going without food for days before reaching the U.S., only to be detained and sent back.
The FIR has been filed under Sections 143 (trafficking of persons), 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), and 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly transferring property) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 24 of the Immigration Act.
In a separate case, the accused were previously booked at Phase-11 Police Station after Mamta Rani, a resident of Phase-11, accused them of deceiving her son, Manav, a 20-year-old BCom student.
He was allegedly sent through the “donkey route” but got stranded in Mexico. That FIR, filed under the BNS and the Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act, 2014, also named a female accomplice.
