Of them, 2 managed to escape to India, and 1 was caught by French cops while trying to flee
A human trafficking incident from nearly two years ago where 25 minor Indian boys were taken to Paris came to light on Thursday only after French investigators caught one of the trafficked boys and approached Interpol. The incident has raised serious questions on the working style of central intelligence agencies and immigration officials in India.
It was only after the Interpol informed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Delhi, that the investigation started. On Thursday, CBI registered a case of human trafficking against three agents for trafficking 25 minor boys to Paris on the pretext of organising a rugby training camp.
CBI started a preliminary enquiry on Interpol's information about a possible human trafficking network and found that three Delhi and Faridabad based agents — Lalit David Dean, Sanjeev Raj, and Varun Choudhary — misled parents of 25 boys, all minors, in early 2016, stating that their kids will be sent to France for a rugby training camp.
"The parents, belonging to Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, were charged Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh each for the trip," said CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal.
After the initial round of selection, a small rugby training session was also organised to convince the parents. "The agents procured an invitation card from France about the purported rugby match. Visa was procured from the French embassy using this invitation," Dayal said.
Upon reaching Paris, the boys were kept in a Gurudwara and their tickets were cancelled without any prior information.
One boy, however, managed to flee to India while two were caught by French police, who then alerted the Interpole.
The whereabouts of the remaining 22 boys are still unknown.
It was alleged that February 1, 2016, a group of 25 students shown as students of two Kapurthala in Punjab based schools led by said accused embarked at Delhi Airport to Paris- CDG to participate in International Rugby Training Camp in Paris on the basis of alleged invitation received from French Federation, Paris.
The 25 kids reached France, where they were dumped in a Gurudwara by the agents or their representatives, said sources.
"In fact, a week's rugby session was organised there in Paris as well," said an officer. All this while, the documents including passport of 25 victims were kept by the agents and return tickets were cancelled without informing them or parents.
Two boys managed to return to India before the cancellation of return tickets.
Later, it was realised that rugby training was a ploy to send these 25 boys to France.
Meanwhile, one boy was caught by the French police earlier this year and Interpol was alerted. The Interpol informed CBI in Delhi after which an investigation was started. The whereabouts of the 22 children are still unknown to the French and Indian agencies.
"Searches were conducted today at four places at Delhi which resulted in recovery of incriminating documents and other articles from the premises of accused persons," added a CBI officer.
CHILDREN TAKEN
- 25 boys were taken to France in 2016 after the parents were misled and were even charged money.
- Of them, 2 managed to escape to India, and 1 was caught by French cops while trying to flee.
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