CHANDIGARH: The
CBI on Tuesday busted a
human trafficking ring and booked five people — four from Delhi and one of
Punjab — for attempting to traffic 11 Punjab-based teenagers to the US under the pretext of taking them for an educational trip.
The premier investigation agency also conducted searches at five places in Delhi and one in Punjab which led to recovery of incriminating documents and articles from the residential and official premises of the accused.
CBI has booked Rachna David of Jalandhar as well as her Delhi-based associates Sandeep Singh Luthra, Amit Jyot Singh, Rohit Gauba and Anshika Matharu. The accused are being questioned.
CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said the agency got a tip-off about the gang when one of their members submitted false and fabricated documents to the
US Embassy to obtain non-immigrant visa for these 11 teenaged boys and one of the associates.
As per the allegations in the CBI FIR, false and fabricated documents were submitted to the US Embassy by the accused for obtaining non-immigrant visa for the 11 boys and David. According to the travel documents presented at the time of the interview, the teenaged boys were students of a Pathankot-based school in Punjab and David the school principal. However, it came out during investigation that none of them were associated with that school. All the boys have been handed over to their parents.
It has been alleged that accused had taken lakhs of rupees from the families of each of the boys for sending them to USA. "As the accused failed to get the visa, their attempt was foiled," the official added.
