3rd US plane lands in Amritsar, maximum deportees 44 from Haryana, 31 Punjabis

Amritsar: A third flight carrying illegal immigrants from the US landed at Amritsar's international airport on Sunday night, a day after 116 people, including 65 from Punjab, were deported.
Out of the 112 deportees on the third flight that touched down at 10.05pm, 44 were from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, 31 from Punjab, two from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, according to sources. There was no official confirmation of the numbers, similar to the previous flights.
Also, there were no signs of any cabinet minister at the airport, in contrast to when cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal welcomed the people on the first flight followed by Dhaliwal and minister Harbhajan Singh ETO receiving the deportees on the second flight. Family members of the deportees too were missing.
After Punjab govt criticism of Haryana sending jail vans to transport the deportees back to their native places, the state govt on Sunday sent a Volvo bus to pick up the deportees.
The first flight, which arrived on Feb 5, brought 104 deportees, both men and women, handcuffed and shackled — triggering a storm of criticism. The second flight, carrying 116 deportees, followed suit, with only the men subjected to the same treatment despite widespread protests. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann pleaded for better treatment, as well as the diversion of the flight to some other airport.
In the previous flight, the Sikh deportees reportedly arrived without turbans. According to sources, the turbans were forcibly removed during their detention in the US. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and airport authorities made emergency arrangements, creating makeshift turbans for the returnees. The SGPC officials brought spare turbans to ensure the dignity of the Sikh deportees. Langar arrangements have also been made by the SGPC at the airport.