Man jailed after 'boxed' travel to US

If you ask US deportee Dinesh Patel, Kevi Rite Jaish, he will tell you Avi Rite — from Mehsana to Mumbai to Mexico and then to the United States, the land of dreams, by a container.

After working for a few years, an accident forced him to lose his job and shatter his dreams. And, Patel was back to square one. He was detained by the intelligence bureau (IB) of airport immigration at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on Thursday night.

With the help of an agent in Mumbai and on a fake passport, Patel was able to reach the US via Mexico. Then he managed an original passport with the help of the same agent but could not muster the courage to come to India. Finally, Patel approached immigration officials at the Indian in embassy in the US and managed to return home. But he was arrested by IB officials and handed over to Sardarnagar police station.

“We have arrested Dinesh Patel when he arrived last night as his passport had only one entry of departure from USA. It did not have any entry seal. During interrogation, he narrated the entire episode on illegal immigration. So, we have arrested him and handed him over to the local police,” said Deepak Kumar, an IB officer at the airport.

It all began in 2008 when Patel got a fake passport with the help of an agent named Vaikunth in Mumbai. He had paid Rs4.5 lakh to get a passport. He flew to Mexico and then reached US sitting in a container. “He was working with some locals for a couple of years before suffering a serious back injury in an accident. Injury rendered him immobile and out of job. As he did not have any money or job, he wanted to come back to India,” explained Kumar.

“Patel again contacted Vaikunth and managed an original passport in 2009. He intended to come back but was afraid of being apprehended. Meanwhile, his passport expired and he was in serious trouble. He then contacted the Indian embassy officials and immigration department of the US which deported him to India on humanitarian grounds,” Kumar added.

Patel, 51, is in the custody of the Sardarnagar police at present. “We are interrogating him to find out the veracity of his statements. We are also looking at the entire angle of illegal immigration to the US. We will need some time before we can arrive at some conclusion,” said inspector KK Patel of Sardarnagar PS.