In January, the world was horrified by the news that a family of four from Gujarat froze to death on the Canadian-American border while illegally trying to cross to America. The family, Jagdish Patel, his wife Vaishali, 11-year-old daughter Vihangi and three-year-old son Dharmik were a part of an 11-member group that was trying to enter America illegally. They had frozen to death in the frigid cold near Manitoba in Canada. Three recent raids on human smuggling agents in Ahmedabad have revealed that this tragic incident has not deterred people from Gujarat from entering foreign shores illegally. Human smuggling is flourishing. The aspirations and risk appetite of Gujaratis to enter America, especially via illegal means remain the same. What has increased is just the cost. Now, Gujaratis are shelling out up to $425,000 for illegal entry to America. Most of the Gujaratis who shell out this money are middle-class citizens. They do not have this much money. They give about $20,000 in India. They enter into an agreement where they agree to work, albeit illegally. mainly in Indian-owned liquor shops, stores and adult care agencies. They are required to pay back the amount in five years’ time.
Recent raids in Ahmedabad on three agents exposed how Gujaratis were ready to go to any extent and indulge in human trafficking to reach America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and interestingly East European countries on fake documents. In one case, it was a woman who “collected” clients and referred them to an agent in New Delhi “to arrange for a visa”. The woman after being hounded by clients claimed that one Ravi Anilkumar whom she met on Facebook promised her visitors visa to Canada “for impossible cases” also. After six of her clients did not receive the visa, their passports and original documents, the woman, Punita Patel registered a police complaint. Each of these clients had shelled out a significant amount of money, at least 80 times more than the official visa fees. In another case, one 50-year-old plus Lalji Patel told the police that he was ready to emigrate after one Kalpesh Patel promised him permanent residency in Canada. He was also reportedly ready to go on illegal documents. He however has registered a complaint that he was duped. According to the police, several agents who deal with human trafficking sometimes “fly away”, that is simply vanish after they gather about $ 200,000. This way, they escape American investigative agencies if their clients are caught. The FBI has now become vigilant and is focussing on Gujarat and these dubious agents.
Vibes of India had reported how it was not uncommon for people of Jagdish Patel’s village, Dingucha to go to any length to enter Canada or their ultimate dream of America. Dingucha, a small village, about 12 km from the State Capital of Gandhinagar is of course not an exception. There are at least 8 “NRI villages” where people fancy becoming Non-Resident Indians at any cost and methodology. As Vibes of India reported recently, the Special Operations Group of Ahmedabad Police raided one small, shabby shop called K Koshti Associates in the Delhi Darwaza area after a tip-off of some suspicious activity. The police rounded up 52-year-old Suryaprakash Koshti, along with his two sons, 27-year-old Abhishek and 22-year-old Nishith along with two associates, Jayesh and Pujary. The Koshti men ran an elaborate human smuggling racket from this small shop (https://www.vibesofindia.com/gujaratis-get-duped-in-name-of-canada-visa-pr/) and the police had seized fake rubber stamps, documents and other evidence fabricated for entry to Canada and USA. SOG’s DySP B C Solanki and Inspector P M Gamit conducted this raid early this week. Vibes of India has been informed that this shabby shop was a human smuggling factory and there were fabricated documents of at least 950 Gujaratis desperate to leave Gujarat and take all risks and illegal routes to immigrate to the USA and Canada. Not only that, if the records that the police found from this shabby shop are not fake, as the fake, fabricated documents recovered from this dingy shop, at least 36 people from Dingucha, the same village of Jagdish Patel who along with his family froze to death while illegally crossing the Canadian border to enter the USA, have flown to USA and Canada in last six months. All on fabricated documents and many of them on fake passports also.
As we wrote in January 2022, a village elder who did not appear shocked at Jagdish Patel’s death but what he called his stupidity in taking “non-calculative risk” told us, that “‘If a child is born in Dingucha, one thing is written in his fate – he will go to America.” Going to America is a big craze in the 3000-odd populated Dingucha village of Gujarat as it is in several parts of the State where the ultimate goal of life is to go to America, whatever the route be. As of now, over 1800 people of Dingucha are in America, most of them who have pursued their American Dream by adopting an illegal method to enter the country.
Now, it has been revealed that even after the tragic death of Jagdish Patel and his family, at least three dozen people from Dingucha itself have left for the USA on fake documents in the last six months. The Ahmedabad Police have found documents of 36 people while investigating an immigration scandal in Ahmedabad. Human smuggling from this non-descript village or other parts of Gujarat has not ceased even after the tragic death of Jagdish Patel and his family. Gujaratis and Dingucha residents are unrepentantly clamouring for fake passports, fake bank documents to prove they can afford American visas and fake property documents to facilitate their entry to USA and Canada. A SOG cop revealed, “The accused had been running the office for four years and they prepared fake documents of at least 965 people. The police seized two computers. The two sons, Abhishek and Nishit along with an accomplice Jayesh were in charge of documentation. Interestingly, all documents of an individual were neatly scanned and put up as a separate file. Each of these files was reportedly given American names with an alphabet that matched their Indian name. For example, Mukesh Patel or Anandbhai’s names would be saved as Mike and Andy as separate file names.
Vibes of India got in touch with two residents of Dingucha village whom we had met in January this year. With a request that their identity is not revealed, they claimed not just 36, but at least 82 people have left Dingucha in the last seven months for “phoren” residency. These men claimed that “it is in the destiny of every Dingucha resident to go and settle abroad.”. They said the village has now learnt its’ lesson after the death of Jagdish Patel and his family that “we should not take stupid risks that can endanger our lives”. Shockingly, getting caught, spending time in Canadian or American jail or deportation is not considered a risk at all.
Also Read: https://www.vibesofindia.com/exposing-the-dirty-dodgy-business-of-human-trafficking-for-the-big-american-dream/
https://www.vibesofindia.com/dingucha-where-death-is-more-lucrative-than-life%ef%bf%bc/
https://www.vibesofindia.com/not-just-the-dingucha-family-one-more-feared-dead/
https://thewire.in/world/the-gujarati-family-that-froze-to-death-in-search-of-the-american-dream
https://www.vibesofindia.com/gujaratis-get-duped-in-name-of-canada-visa-pr/
