MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian police have detained six folks in a crackdown on illegal immigration after 4 Indians have been discovered frozen to demise near the border between the United States and Canada final week, officers mentioned on Thursday.
Hundreds of Indians, principally from the western states of Punjab and Gujarat, try to cross the U.S.-Canada border annually, braving harsh climate situations in the hunt for a greater life and job alternatives within the West.
Police in Gujarat mentioned they recognized the 4, belonging to a single household, after legislation enforcement companies on the border supplied images of passports and different belongings.
“We are actually making an attempt to nab the human traffickers who managed to ship this household and others overseas by way of illegal channels,” mentioned police official A.Ok. Jhala within the state capital of Gandhinagar.
The six detained by police have been working a journey and tourism firm within the state, he added.
U.S. authorities have charged a U.S. man with human trafficking after the 4 – a person, lady, child and teenager – have been discovered useless within the Canadian province of Manitoba, a number of yards north of the frontier with Minnesota.
They have been amongst 4 households from the identical village who had travelled to the border this month.
Officials mentioned they received separated from the group of 18 folks and have been in all probability caught in a blizzard, leading to a tragedy described as “mind-blowing” by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The scenario got here to gentle solely when the group was intercepted by authorities and one in all them was discovered to be carrying a backpack with child provides, though there was no toddler amongst them.
“The nexus of human trafficking runs deep, typically involving native politicians too,” mentioned Jhala, including that folks even promote their land and houses to fund efforts to get to the United States or Canada.
A international ministry official within the Indian capital of New Delhi mentioned authorities have been coordinating with border officers within the United States and Canada to research the illegal immigration case.
(Reporting by Rupam Jain; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
