For fraudulently sending youths to Tajikistan, 3 travel agents booked

Nangal police have booked three travel agents -- Asif Khan, a resident of Raipur village near Nangal; Sukhwinder Saini, a resident of Bandhlehri village; and Bunty Dhiman, a resident of Behrampur village near Nangal -- in a case of fraudulently sending youths from Ropar district to Tajikistan.

The youths were sent to Tajikistan with offers of working as drivers. However, on reaching Tajikistan, they were forced to do manual labour in snow-bound areas.

SSP Ropar Gulneet Singh Khurana confirmed that three travel agents who were involved in sending youths to Tajikistan have been booked under Sections 316 (2), 318(4) of the BNS and Section 24 of the Immigration Act.

The travel agents have been booked on the complaint of one Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Raipur village, the SSP said. Sources said that the booked travel agents are absconding.

Seven youths from Ropar district, who were stranded in Tajikistan after allegedly falling victim to a travel fraud, came back to India on October 27. They included Manjit Singh, Amarjit Singh, Hardeep Singh, Avtar Singh and Harvinder Singh, all from Anandpur Sahib sub-division.

The ordeal of the youths stranded in Tajikistan came to the fore after they posted their video and photos doing hard labour in snow-bound areas on social media. After the videos went viral, local political leaders, including district president of BJP Ajayvir Singh Lalpura, and Rajya Sabha MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney took up the case of the youths.

Sahney claimed that he had taken up the matter of stranded youths with the Indian embassy in Tajikistan on October 19 after which they were brought back to India. Lalpura arranged a welcome party for the youths at Ropar on October 27.

Sources said that the travel agents who had sent the youths to Tajikistan had arranged their return tickets by air. The parents of the stranded youths had filed a police complaint at Nangal police station against the travel agents on October 17. Today, the police registered a case against the travel agents.