New Delhi, February 21: A 43-year-old travel agent was arrested here for facilitating the illegal journey of a man to the United States via the "donkey route," an official said on Friday." The agent, Amit Arora, was arrested on Thursday. He is a habitual offender and has been previously involved in 10 similar cases of visa and passport fraud registered in Chandigarh," Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) Usha Rangnani said.

"A total of six agents have been arrested as of February 21, while 21 agents were held last year for involvement in donkey route cases," Rangnani added. She further stated that on December 14, an Indian national, Maninder Pal Singh (20), arrived at Delhi's IGI Airport from the US as a deportee. An FIR was registered, and an investigation was initiated. During questioning, Singh revealed that he had studied up to the 10th grade and wanted to go to the US for a better livelihood and easy money. Illegal Indian Migrants Deported by US: Third US Military Plane With 112 Illegal Indian Immigrants Lands at Amritsar Airport (Watch Videos).

In 2023, he came into contact with an agent, Mandeep Singh (40), through a friend and sought his help in reaching the US. The agent assured him of an illegal journey in exchange for Rs 41 lakh, using multiple transit countries via the "donkey route." Singh further disclosed that Mandeep Singh collected the payment in cash at his office in Kapurthala, Punjab, and arranged his travel. "The passenger left India in October 2023, following the agent's instructions. His route included Kazakhstan, Dubai, Senegal, Libya, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico before illegally entering the US via the Mexico border in November 2024, after a 13-month journey," the DCP said.

During the trip, the agent provided a fake Guatemala visa and forged immigration stamps from multiple countries to disguise the illegal route. Upon reaching the US, Singh was instructed by the agent to remove pages from his passport that contained the fake visas and stamps, thereby tampering with the document. However, US authorities detected the tampering, detained him for two months, and subsequently deported him to India. Illegal Indian Migrants Deported by US: 2 Brothers Deported From US Arrested in Punjab on Murder Charges.

Mandeep Singh was later arrested, and during sustained interrogation, he named his associate, Amit Arora, who was also found involved in the case and arrested in Delhi, the DCP said. "During interrogation, Arora confessed to working as an agent for several years. He operated a travel office in Sector 17 in Chandigarh and partnered with Mandeep Singh. Together, they duped people by promising overseas travel, providing fake visas, and offering fraudulent job opportunities abroad," the DCP added. Recently, following a crackdown on illegal immigrants under President Donald Trump's administration, US authorities have deported 332 Indians so far.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)