India probes suspected human trafficking after 276 nationals return home

AHMEDABAD: India has launched an investigation after 303 Indians ended up on a chartered flight that was grounded in France last week over suspected human trafficking, authorities in the western Indian state of Gujarat said.

Tipped off by an anonymous informant, French authorities on Friday prevented the plane from flying to its listed destination of Nicaragua from a refuelling stopover at Vatry airport in northeastern France.

It had taken off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 11 unaccompanied minors among the passengers, 276 of whom returned to India on Tuesday. Many of the Indians onboard hailed from Gujarat.

Sanjay Kharat, a senior Gujarat police official, said authorities had obtained the names and addresses of 21 persons from the state who were on the flight, and that investigators were trying to determine who facilitated their travel. “Our teams have already spoken with some of them …(or) their family members,” he said.

The flight was operated by Romania’s Legend Airlines. Its lawyer Liliana Bakayoko declined to name the client who chartered the plane, citing contractual confidentiality. Those who returned to India declined to talk to the media after emerging from Mumbai airport and others hid their faces with their hands or clothing.

French authorities placed two of the passengers on “assisted witness” status after investigating them for suspected people smuggling, while another 25 remained in France to apply for asylum. In France, “assisted witness” is an intermediate status between that of a witness and an indicted suspect.

The plane was held in France a day after the US State Department said it would impose visa restrictions targeting individuals operating charter flights into Nicaragua for migrants heading towards the US-Mexico border.

According to US Customs and Border Protection data, the number of Indians caught trying to enter the United States illegally has tripled over the past three years. US authorities caught 96,917 Indians between October 2022 and September 2023, up from 30,662 three years earlier.