Passengers from Nicaragua bound Airbus A340 flight that was grounded in France on suspicion of human trafficking, leave the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
While CID (Crime and Railways) was probing illegal emigrations into the United States, it found proof of another airplane having taken off from Dubai to Nicaragua on December 6, taking the total number of such 'dunki' flights to three, The Times of India reported.
A senior officer from CID said told the publication, "During the investigation, we came to know that about two more flights that flew with Indians including Gujaratis before France grounded a flight on December 21. We have confirmed that a flight flew to Nicaragua rom Dubai on December 6."
French officials did not allow a flight with 303 passengers (96 of them from Gujarat) to takeoff, on December 21 from Vatry airport, after a tip-off on alleged human trafficking.
The officials quizzed about the December 21 flight were found to be involved in the December 6 incident as well.
SP, CID Sanjay Kharat said, "Cops have questions who were booked at the Vatry airport, but no illegalities were found with their documents."
"Their documents were valid but they planned to enter the United States illegally," Kharat added.
The December 21 flight via France landed in Mumbai with 276 passengers on December 24 following a court hearing at Vatry airport after which it was permitted to return to India.
Before the December 21 flight, there was another flight with about 200 passengers including 60 from Gujarat, which faced a technical halt for 10-12 hours at an airport in Germany.
Citing a source close to the development, TOI said that while some have slipped into the US, other illegal immigrants are still in Mexico. The agents who arranged these flights via Vatry and Germany were the same, the publication's source further claimed.