The main culprit of the huge migrant-smuggling ring, Charanjit Singh is believed to have sneaked into India under the stolen identity of none other than a resident from the infamous Dingucha village in North Gujarat.
Dingucha village grabbed the headlines in January this year when a family of four was found frozen to death on the US-Canada border. Canadian police had found dead bodies due to freezing cold, Jagdish Patel, 35, his wife Vaishali, 33, and their children Vihanga, 12, and Dharmik, 3, just 12 km away from the US border on January 19.
Charanjit Singh, an Indian origin person, is believed to be the kingpin of the human traffick racket. He is said to have facilitated the family’s illegal attempt to move to the US in connivance of one Bharat alias Bobby Patel from Gujarat.
Charanjit Singh’s name came up when the police was investigating the case. He then gave himself a new identity and ran away to Canada first. In March, he went to the United States. However, since the authorities were after him in hot pursuit, Charanjit sneaked into India after a hiatus of four months.
However, a macabre detail stands out in his alleged escape to India that he may have stolen the identity of another man from Dingucha.
Rakesh Patel from Dingucha, had approached Charanjit Singh and his accomplices for an illegal entry to US. The police think that Charanjit used Rakesh’s documents to get a new set of identification papers and to travel to other countries. He even got a sim card in Rakesh’s name.
Police also found out that persons with the names like Munnabhai, Charles, Joseph, Moldy, and Jack were linked to a man named Ravneet Singh from Punjab. He turned out to be a close associate of Charanjit Singh.
Charanjit first lived in Delhi, then moved to Haridwar, Uttarakhand. He continued overseeing the human smuggling ring from there. About a week ago, Charanjit called Haresh Patel, another human smuggler from Ahmedabad. Haresh on a visit to Haridwar for rituals after the death of his father met Charanjit before going back to Ahmedabad. The two are believed to have met in Delhi also later.
Gujarat police at the moment are investigating a massive illegal immigration racket in the state involving the IELTS coaching centres. As per the novel modus operandi, the coaching classes would let the proxy students appear for the IELTS exam to secure higher marks that would enable the students to obtain a Canadian study visa. The traffickers then would facilitate the entry of such people into US.
Also Read: Gandhinagar: FBI In Town To Probe ‘Dingucha’ Leads
