5 youths held captive in Colombia rescued

Five Punjabi youths, who were allegedly held captive at Capurgana in Colombia while on their way to the USA through ‘dunki route’, have been rescued following intervention by Rajya Sabha member from Chandigarh Satnam Singh Sandhu.

The youths belonging to Doaba and Majha regions were lured by a local travel agent. They were, however, trapped by a local gang in Colombia. Ransom was demanded from their parents for their release.

After coming to know about the matter, MP Sandhu raised the issue with Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar. He appealed to him to intervene in the matter to rescue the youths. Sandhu also reached out to officials at the Indian Embassy in Colombia.

Lovedeep Singh, Karandeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh of Amritsar and Gurpreet Singh and Gurnam Singh of Jalandhar had left for the US around four months ago.

After being rescued, they released a video thanking MP Sandhu. “We are safe, have received our passports and will return to our country soon,” they said.

MP Sandhu said, “After being informed by an acquaintance that five Punjabi youths have been held captive in Colombia, I wrote a letter to the Minister of External Affairs and urged him to intervene in the matter.”

In a video clip shared by an acquaintance, these youths can be seen describing the harassment they have been receiving at the hands of their captors. The captors had demanded $20,000 from the youths’ families for their release.

Sandhu said, “Illegal migration is a serious concern that needs to be addressed with priority. The government needs to put in place a robust mechanism by ensuring exemplary punishment to deter such incidents.”