Family seeks govt help to bring body of Kaithal man killed in Guatemala

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Kaithal, April 1

Dreams of the family of Malkiat Singh (32) of Mataur village in Kalayat in the district shattered when they came to know about his death while being taken to the US through ‘donkey route’, an illegitimate way of entering a foreign country by traversing through multiple nations.

The family alleged that they got a video on social media, which confirmed Malkiat’s death in Guatemala.

The family members approached SP Maqsood Ahmed and sought help to bring Malkiat’s body back home at the earliest. The SP assured them of raising the issue with the government and the Indian Embassy for the early return of the body.

Rajeev, younger brother of the deceased, alleged Ishwar Singh, a travel agent, lured them to send his brother to the US through the ‘donkey route’, for which he had demanded Rs 40 lakh. They had paid Rs 25 lakh initially and the remaining Rs 15 lakh was to be paid after his brother reached the US.

“Ishwar has kept the entire amount with him and did not pay other agents abroad, due to which my brother got killed,” he alleged.

“We have requested the authorities to help us bring the body back at the earliest. We also request stringent action against the agent so that no one else fall prey to him in future,” Rajiv added.

He further said Malkiat left for the US on February 17 and he reached Istanbul on March 1 and Panama on March 2. “We were in touch with him till March 7 and after that, we lost contact with him,” Rajiv added.

He accused the travel agent for hatching a conspiracy as he was not giving a satisfactory reply to them.

The SP said, “On the complaint of the family members of the deceased, we have registered a case against the travel agent under various sections of the Immigration Act. We have also booked him for cheating. We are in touch with the Embassy for the confirmation of the death and will make all efforts to bring the body back, if he has died.”