'We were handcuffed', claim deportees who arrived in second plane from US

DALJIT SINGH, who was among the deportees who reached Amritsar from the US on Saturday (15) night, claimed they were handcuffed with their legs chained during the journey.

"Our legs were chained and hands were also cuffed," Singh told reporters in Hoshiarpur on Sunday (16).

Singh, a native of Kurala Kalan village in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district, was among 116 illegal Indian immigrants who were brought back in a US aircraft that landed at the Amritsar airport on Saturday night.

Replying to a question, Singh said he was taken through the 'donkey route' - an illegal and risky pathway used by migrants to enter the US.

Singh's wife Kamalpreet Kaur alleged that her husband was deceived by a travel agent who promised him a direct flight to the US but instead took him via the donkey route.

She said a man from their village had arranged for a travel agent to facilitate Singh's journey. The agent assured to take him to the US legally but later he was taken through multiple locations, raising suspicions about the legitimacy of his travel.

Sourav (20), who reached Chandiwala village in Punjab's Ferozepur district on Sunday, told reporters that they were shackled en route to Amritsar. "We were handcuffed and our legs were chained," he said.

Harjit Singh, who hails from Khanowal Ghuman village in Gurdaspur district, was deported from the US along with his cousin. "We were caught while crossing the US border on January 27 and kept at a detention centre for 18 days. We were deported on February 13, handcuffed and our legs chained," he said.

The C-17 aircraft that landed around 11.35 pm on Saturday was the second batch of Indians to be deported by the Donald Trump administration as part of its crackdown on illegal immigrants.

After immigration and background check, the deportees hailing from Punjab were taken to their homes in police vehicles at around 4.30 am Sunday.

Two deportees belonging to Rajpura in Patiala district were arrested in connection with a murder case.

Sandeep Singh alias Sunny and Pradeep Singh were wanted in a murder case registered in Rajpura in 2023.

The Haryana government also made transportation arrangements for the deportees from the state.

The second batch of deportees had tales of toil, journey through dangerous and illegal pathways in pursuit of the American dream and its ultimate shattering to share. Many claimed that they were duped by travel agents.

Their dreams were shattered when they were caught on the US border and sent back in shackles.

Of the fresh batch of deportees, 65 are from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, two each from Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Most of them are aged 18 to 30, as per the sources.

Saddled with mountainous debt, most of the family members of the second batch of deportees now stare at a bleak future as they had mortgaged their farmland and cattle to facilitate the journey abroad.

Punjab NRI affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and power minister Harbhajan Singh met some of the deportees at the airport on Saturday night and said the state government stood by them like a rock.

About the shackling of deportees, Dhaliwal, in a post on X, said, "You will be very sad to know that throughout the entire journey, once again the American soldiers had tied the hands and feet of our Indian immigrants. Despite opposition to earlier cuffing, the Indians were treated inhumanly".

A third plane carrying 157 deportees is expected to land at the Amritsar airport on Sunday, sources said.

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann has been attacking the Centre over the landing of US planes carrying deportees at Amritsar airport. "Do not make our holy city a deport centre," he had said.

It may be recalled that when the opposition parties protested in Parliament after the first batch of deportees landed, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had on February 6 said that New Delhi is engaging with the US to ensure that illegal Indian immigrants are not mistreated while being deported. (PTI)