The Bureau of Investigation (BOI), a wing of the Punjab Police, has initiated the process to bring back 14 Punjab residents from the United Kingdom (UK) in connection with a suspected international human trafficking racket involving forged e-visa and employment documents.
The Punjab Police are also expected to send a mutual legal assistance request to the UK seeking legal and evidentiary assistance in the investigation. Their subsequent departure became a significant part of the Punjab Police investigation, particularly in relation to the suspected role of airline and ground-handling personnel. Such requests are used by authorities in one country to seek evidence, documents, witness assistance or other forms of legal cooperation from another country in connection with criminal investigations or proceedings.
Following the SIT’s findings, warrants have been issued against all 14 passengers and the BOI has initiated extradition-related proceedings. Despite the alert, another nine passengers carrying allegedly similar documents were permitted to board an Air India flight from Amritsar on January 16.
The officer said the police would also send a mutual legal assistance request to the UK.
A senior officer associated with the investigation said warrants had been issued against all 14 passengers and sent to their addresses in Punjab.
The development comes nine months after the 14 passengers allegedly travelled from Amritsar to London on Air India flights and subsequently sought asylum in the UK. All 14 passengers had allegedly used forged digital immigration documents to obtain e-visas and facilitate their travel, according to the special investigation team (SIT) probing the case. The investigation has so far identified 30 people in connection with the alleged racket. These include the 14 passengers, three Air India employees, four employees of AI Airport Services Limited (AIASL), the airline’s ground-handling arm, and several travel agents and other suspected persons.
The SIT has recently submitted its report to the BOI.
Officers probing the case said they were in the process of writing to the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) to proceed with the extradition process.
