CHANDIGARH: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Delhi-based travel agent Tarun Khosla in connection with a money-laundering investigation into an alleged illegal immigration network that facilitated entry into the United States through the “donkey route”.
A special PMLA court in Jalandhar has reportedly remanded him to seven days of ED custody.
Khosla was brought from Delhi on transit remand and produced before the court on October 24. He was already on the ED’s radar.
The agency’s investigation has revealed that the illegal migration network involved travel agents, middlemen, “donkers”, overseas associates, hawala operators and people providing lodging and logistical support to migrants deported from the US.
On December 18, 2025, the ED conducted searches at 13 locations across Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. The premises linked to Khosla in Delhi and Richi Travels in Jalandhar were among those covered during the operation.
The agency seized Rs 4.62 crore in cash, 6 kg of gold bullion and 313 kg of silver from Khosla’s business and residential premises. Documents relating to migrants kept as surety for payments were also found at the premises of Balwan Singh, a Panipat-based travel agent.
On December 15, the ED provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 5.41 crore, equivalent to the alleged proceeds of crime generated by agents Shubham Sharma, Jagjit Singh and Surmukh Singh, who were allegedly involved in facilitating illegal migration to the US.
The attached assets included agricultural land, residential and commercial properties, and bank accounts held in the names of the agents and their family members.
In July last year, the ED conducted similar raids at 11 locations in Punjab, including Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala and Moga, and in Haryana, including Ambala, Kurukshetra and Karnal.
The investigation found that travel agents and their associates allegedly duped people by promising to send them legally to the US in exchange for hefty sums. They allegedly routed migrants through dangerous routes across several South American countries before helping them enter the US illegally through the US-Mexico border.
The ED’s financial investigation followed 19 FIRs registered in Punjab and Haryana concerning alleged immigration fraud after the US government deported 330 Indian nationals on military cargo planes in February last year.
The agency has been examining financial transactions linked to the suspected network and the alleged proceeds generated through its operations.
The ED recorded statements of deportees, which helped identify suspects. Each deportee allegedly paid between Rs 40 lakh and Rs 55 lakh to travel agents whom they had never met in person but had contacted through local intermediaries. The agency also asked the deportees to submit documents, including details of bank accounts used to transfer money to the agents.