Gujarat police launch probe after man from Gandhinagar falls to death on US-Mexico border

Less than a year after four of a family froze to death while trying to sneak into the United States through the Canadian border, a man from the same vicinity in Gujarat is reported to have fallen to death while attempting to climb the wall at the US-Mexico border. The incident is learnt to have occurred on December 14 while the family members, police said, were informed on December 17.

Local police said that they came to know about the death of Brijesh Kumar Yadav on the US-Mexico border through media reports. The family members, who are presently residing at Chhatral of Kalol taluka in Gandhinagar district, have told the police that they were informed on December 17 that Yadav had died due to "heart attack". The family is originally from Uttar Pradesh. Yadav worked as an accountant in a private firm at Kalol GIDC.

According to Amy Patel, DSP, Gandhinagar, the local authorities were yet to receive any official communication with regard to the incident. "We haven't taken any cognisance of the incident but we are following it up with the family. The family members have told us that Kumar's wife and children are under care."

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Several news reports claimed that Yadav was climbing a 30-foot border fence, all known as Trump Wall, while carrying his son when they fell off on the Mexican side of the border in Tijuana. A news report published in Daily Mail, dated December 16, identified the person as a 50-year-old Brijkumar Daxiniprasad. It states that he suffered a head injury and was pronounced dead at the spot. Family members in Kalol said that Yadav is in his 30s.

The report said that Daxiniprasad's wife also fell from the top of the metal wall and landed up the San Diego side of the border in the US. The report also mentioned that the family was part of 40 migrants who were trying to enter the US through this border. It added that 30 of them were apprehended by the US Border patrol.

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The fresh incident is a grim reminder of the death of four members of a family, also from Dingucha in Kalol taluka, who froze to death in January on the US-Canada border. They had gone to Canada as visitors and through a human trafficker network tried to cross into the US. In the instant case, Yadav and his family are said to have left for Mexico earlier this year.

A special cell of Gujarat police's state monitoring cell recently arrested a suspected trafficker and seized 94 passports from him. It is suspected that he used to charge about Rs 1.5 crore per individual for sending them to America as illegal immigrants. Despite life-threatening dangers, hundreds of people from Gujarat are reported to be lining up to take risks for better opportunities in America.