Explained | Why did France ground aircraft with 300 Indians on board?

France on Thursday grounded a charter flight bound for Nicaragua that took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 303 Indian passengers over suspected "human trafficking”. According to the Paris public prosecution office, the authorities acted based on a tip-off by an anonymous informant and two people are currently in custody for questioning.

The flight, carried out by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines, had departed from Dubai and landed at the small Vatry airport on Thursday afternoon for a technical stopover when police intervened, the Marne prefect's office said in a statement.

Why was the flight grounded?

The airlines has not yet commented over the matter. However, AFP quoted Liliana Bakayoko, a lawyer for the airline, as saying that the group "is at the disposal of the French authorities" and that it has done nothing wrong. She said the airlines would take legal action if the prosecutors file charges.

The lawyer further added that a customer, whom she wouldn't identify, chartered the plane and was responsible for verifying the identity documents of all passengers on board. The customer communicated the passenger details to the airline 48 hours before the flight, she said.

Local officials in the eastern Marne region on Friday said that a judicial investigation into the conditions and purposes of the trip has been launched.

The Indian Embassy in France through a post on X informed that they have been kept in the loop about the situation by the authorities in Paris. "Embassy team has reached & obtained consular access. We are investigating the situation, also ensuring wellbeing of the passengers," the post read.

The prefect's office said that the reception hall at Vatry airport was transformed into a waiting area with individual beds to provide passengers with the best possible reception conditions.

(With inputs from Reuters)