Youth trying to reach US drowns along Panama coast
Youth trying to reach US drowns along Panama coast
IP Singh | TNN | Nov 12, 2017, 06:57 IST
JALANDHAR: In a clear sign that human trafficking from Punjabto the US had not abated in recent months, a young man from Hoshiarpur is believed to have drowned last month along the coast of Panama while trying to enter the US illegally. The latest case has been reported in less than a week of six men from different villages of Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Amritsar going missing in the Bahamas, while trying to enter the US.
Gurpreet Singh, 19, of Jalalpur village in Hoshiarpur flew from Delhi on October 7 to an unknown destination. His family was told he was going directly to the US. However, on October 24, his mother Manjit Kaur received a call from Gurpreet saying he had reached Panama along with some other Punjabi youths and that the next leg of the journey would be by boat. Since then, she has not heard from her son.
Gurpreet's family members say they had heard from families of other boys with him that he slipped from the boat and drowned. When confronted, the travel agent, who had sent the boys, confirmed that Gurpreet had drowned.
According to Manjit, the agent had promised to send her son to the US for a fee of Rs 30 lakh and she had paid Rs 4 lakh in advance after taking a loan. The rest of the amount was to be paid later. Gurpreet's father is working as a labourer in Ahmedabad while his younger brother is an employee at a local petrol pump.
More:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/youth-trying-to-reach-us-drowns-along-panama-coast/articleshow/61612334.cms
LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141912201