New Delhi, July 5 - The National Investigation Agency has arrested two key persons involved in the case of human trafficking to the US through the infamous 'donkey' route, officials said on Saturday. They said the arrests were made after searches at one place each in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.
The NIA said in a statement that the accused include Sunny alias Sunny Donkar, a resident of Dharamshala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, and Shubham Sandhal alias Deep Hundi, a resident of Ropar district of Punjab. Deep Hundi was currently living in Peeragarhi in outer Delhi. They were arrested on Friday.
The investigating agency said that both the accused are associates of Gagandeep Singh alias Goldie, who was arrested in March. Gagandeep was arrested on the complaint of a victim who was trafficked to the US using the donkey route and was deported from the US to India in February. The NIA had on June 27 filed a chargesheet in the case against Gagandeep Singh, a resident of Tilak Nagar, New Delhi. According to the NIA investigation, Gagandeep used to take around Rs 45 lakh from each passenger and promise to get them a proper legal visa and send them to the US, but in the end, he was sent through the dangerous illegal donkey route. He used to send these people to the US on a arduous journey through various countries including Spain, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico.