NIA files charge sheet against two in 'Dunki' human trafficking case

New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has chargesheeted two accused in connection with human trafficking from India to the US via the 'dunki' route.

The NIA has charged the accused, Sunny and Shubhal Sandhal alias Deep Hundi, with human trafficking and cheating.

Sunny, a resident of Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district and Sandhal of Delhi's Peeragardhi were arrested in July this year, around three months after the arrest of the main accused, Gagandeep Singh alias Goldy, from Tilak Nagar area of the national capital.

The case was initially registered by the police under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act 2014 at the Goindwal police station in District Tarn Taran, Punjab, and then re-registered by the NIA on March 13.

During the interrogation of the accused, it came to the fore that Sunny was a 'donkar' actively involved in human trafficking via the 'dunki' route.

Based in Mexico from 2021 to 2023, Sunny connived with Goldy and others to facilitate illegal border crossings and unlawfully detain the victims, the statement added.

Sunny received payments through hawala and bank transfers. Even after returning to India in 2023, he continued coordinating logistics, managing hawala transactions, and directly sending victims via the dunki route.

Sandhal, a Delhi-based hawala agent, was engaged in illegal fund transfers for the human trafficking syndicate, led by Goldy and his associates.

The NIA investigations revealed that Shubham collected money from Indian clients and remitted it abroad using the hawala network.

Sandhal was involved in smoothly managing and moving the illicit funds across India, Mexico and the US as part of the illegal immigration racket.

The investigation is continuing against the other accused in the case.

The probe agency is also working to dismantle similar illegal trafficking syndicates involved in cheating and exploiting innocent people with false promises of a legal visa.

--IANS

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