Beas-based travel agent booked on complaint of Ludhiana woman deported from US

Eleven days after a 39-year-old woman Sukhpreet Kaur, who was among the third batch of 112 illegal immigrants deported by the United States, the Malaud police in Khanna booked a Beas-based immigration agent along with his wife and mother, officials said on Friday. The woman belongs to Raikot and is currently living in Malaud of Khanna.

Malaud police station house officer inspector Satnam Singh said that an FIR under Section 318 (4) of BNS, Section 24 of the Immigration Act and Section 13 of the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act has been lodged against the accused.

A manhunt is on to arrest the accused, the SHO added.

The woman, in her complaint to the police, claimed that the accused had promised her legal entry into the US but instead forced her to take the ‘donkey route’.

The woman alleged that the agents forced her to arrange more money for her entry to the US. She added that as they entered the US through the donkey route, she was arrested by the US authorities.

The accused have been identified as Amandeep Singh Bal of Sattowal village of Beas, her wife and mother. The woman stated that she lost ₹43 lakh to the travel agent and his aides.

In the statement to the police, the woman stated that the accused promised her a legal entry to the US. The woman added that the accused on December 23, 2024, sent her to the Netherlands after securing a Schengen visa after taking ₹13 lakh. She was then sent to Tijuana on the Mexico-US border via Italy, Spain and Guatemala.

She also told police that the agents in Latin America forced her to ask her family members to transfer ₹30 lakh more to their accounts if she wanted to reach the US.

Her group crossed the US border on January 29, and minutes later, they were arrested. On February 16, she, along with 111 other illegal immigrants, were deported.

Earlier on February 19, the Meharban police in Ludhiana lodged an FIR against travel agents Charanjit Singh of Ludhiana, Nishant Kumar (a lawyer from UP high court), Sandeep Kumar of Bathinda, Ravinder Deol of Dubai and Satnam Singh under sections 406 (breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 370 (trafficking of people), 120-B IPC and 24 of Immigration Act at for allegedly duping US deportee Gurwinder Singh of Sasrali Colony of ₹69.40 lakh and sending him abroad on basis of fake passport and documents.

Gurwinder Singh was among the second batch of deportees who were sent back from the United States on February 15.