Ex-Army man’s US dream cost him Rs 95 lakh; travel agent booked

The dream of settling in the USA with family on a work permit cost a retired Army man from Ambala Rs 95 lakh. After crossing various countries, the family was sent to the USA through the illegal route, only to be deported to India.

As per information, Jagvinder Singh, a resident of Khan Ahmadpur village of Mullana, and his family members were among those who were deported from America. Jagvinder, who retired as Havildar from the Army in 2023, wanted to go to the USA on a work permit for which he contacted travel agent Prabhdeep Singh, a resident of Yamunanagar. The travel agent had sought Rs 80 lakh to send him, his wife and two children abroad along with the job.

The complainant had used all his savings and sold his land to arrange the money, and now he is left with only his pension.

Narrating his ordeal to the police in a complaint, Jagvinder stated that, “In December last year, Prabhdeep took Rs 36 lakh and sent us to Paris on December 30, and then to Spain, where we stayed till January 15. Meanwhile, he took another Rs 25 lakh from us. Then we were sent to Salvador from where an unidentified person took us to Guatemala and handed over us to another person. They made us cross the Mexico border through sea route in the late hours.”

“We were kept in at an unknown place for the next seven days, and my family members here were pressurised to pay more money. They took Rs 19 lakh from my father and another Rs 15 lakh from my father-in-law,” he added.

After keeping them in various cities, the family was taken to Tijuana city of Mexico by plane on February 3 and kept in a hotel for a day. The next day, Jagvinder’s family, along with two Nepalese nationals, were taken to the US border and made to cross it at gunpoint, the complainant alleged.

“Soon after crossing the border, we were caught by the USA border police and later deported to India. When we asked him to return our money, the travel agent threatened us with dire consequences. He had promised to send me on a work permit, but we reached the USA through an illegal route. He has cheated us and took Rs 95 lakh. The police must arrest him at the earliest and recover the money from him,” Jagvinder stated.

The Mullana police have registered a case under the Immigration Act and on charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal intimidation under the BNS. Mullana police station SHO Balkar Singh said, “A case has been registered on the basis of the complaint received and all the record has been obtained. The travel agent is at large and raids are being conducted to nab him.”