3 ‘human traffickers’ chargesheeted for leaving 11 Gujaratis in blizzard on US-Canada border

The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB), Ahmedabad, has filed a charge sheet against three suspected human traffickers for smuggling a group of 11 Gujaratis to the United States through the Canada border during which four members of a family, including two children from Dingucha village, froze to death last year.

The charge sheet alleges that the accused traffickers “lured” the victims with assurances that they would be taken to the US through the Canadian border. It states that the suspects took the victims to Canada on tourist visas as part of a criminal conspiracy and left them in the freezing blizzard on the US-Canada border without giving them warm clothes, among other life-saving essentials.

The charge sheet has been filed against Bhavesh Patel (48), a resident of Palsana village, Kalol taluk of Gandhinagar district; Yogesh Chunilal Patel (42), a resident of Sangathan Society, Vastrapur in Ahmedabad, who is originally from Kalyanpura; Kadi taluk of Mehsana district and Dashrath Pratap Chaudhary (45), a resident of Hariom Bungalows, Kudasan, Gandhinagar, who is originally from Visnagar in Mehsana.

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They have been chargesheeted for criminal breach of trust, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to commit culpable homicide, cheating, and sections of human trafficking to be read with criminal conspiracy. Other accused, including Fenil Kantilal Patel, currently living in Canada and originally from Surat; Bitu Paji, a resident of Vancouver, Canada; Steve Shand, a resident of Florida in the US; and one Pintu, whose full identity is yet to be ascertained, are wanted in the case.

Following the death of four of a family from the Dingucha village in Gandhinagar district, four members of another family from neighbouring Mehsana district were found drowned while trying to enter the US through the St Lawrence River on the US-Canada border. The incidents compelled the state government to take action against the human traffickers who have been luring people to take them to the US through life-threatening journeys for a better life.

The charge sheet states that the accused took the group of 11 persons to Canada in order to take them to the US illegally through the Canada-US border in the "intolerable freezing temperature" without giving them warm clothes and other essentials despite knowing that it would endanger their lives. It states that the accused "physically exploited the victims leading to their deaths including two children."

It adds that after learning of the death of four persons from Dingucha through news and social media, accused Yogesh Patel in his office located at 401, Lakeview Tower, Vastrapur in Ahmedabad destroyed the evidence from his computer server. The members of Dingucha village family, Jagdish Baldeshbhai Patel, 39, his wife Vaishaliben Patel, 37, and their two children-Vihangi Patel, 11, and Dharmik Patel, 3, were also among the 11 persons, who have been cited as victims of human trafficking.

During their journey in the freezing blizzard, Kantibhai Chaudhary and one Priyanka Chaudhary suffered frostbite. Chaudhary was unable to walk when the US border patrolling police found him while Priyanka lost a finger due to frostbite. They were among the seven who were caught by the US border police. The chargesheet states that each one paid Rs60 lakh to the traffickers to reach the US illegally.

Jagdish had tried for US visa twice: Father

Meanwhile, in his police statement Baldev Patel, father of Jagdish who died in the blizzard with his wife and two children, has maintained that he didn't know if his son was planning to travel to the US illegally. He has stated that Jagdish informed him that he was going to Canada on a tourist visa. He also denied having any knowledge of agents who arranged the travel for his son.

However, he has revealed that Jagdish while working as an accountant in a company in Ahmedabad sometime in 2018 had tried to obtain a US visa twice but he was rejected. The statement says Baldev's three brothers live in the United States with their families. The statement also reveals that his nephew, Jaswant, went to the US as recently as in 2022.