CHANDIGARH: Two youths among the 117 Indian illegal immigrants deported from the US have been arrested by Punjab Police for their involvement in a murder case. Cousins Sandeep Singh and Pradeep Singh were wanted in connection with a murder case filed in 2023 in Rajpura, Patiala. During the investigation, their names were added to the First Information Report.
A team from Patiala Police arrested them at Sri Guru Ram Dass International Airport in Amritsar. Sources said that the accused hail from Rajpura and had been declared proclaimed offenders in the murder case. They have been booked under sections 302, 307, 323, 506, 148, and 149 of the Indian Penal Code for the case registered on June 26, 2023.
However, police officials stated that they had not issued a ‘Look Out Circular’ for the two. Reacting to their arrest, the family members said that they spent a whopping Rs 1.20 crore to facilitate their travel to the US.
A team led by the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Rajpura police station was sent to Amritsar airport on Saturday to apprehend the two.
Confirming their arrest, Senior Superintendent of Police Nanak Singh stated that they were taken into custody at the Amritsar airport. Later that day, both were presented in the local court in Rajpura. Their families requested that they be allowed to meet their children.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann urged the youth of the state to learn from the recent deportation of illegal migrants from the United States.
He appealed to them to abandon the notion of seeking to go abroad through improper means and instead work hard to develop their home state, making it a leader in the country.
Speaking at a gathering in Ghungrali, Ludhiana, during a sports tournament, CM Mann stated, “We are fortunate to have been born on this sacred land, known for having the most fertile soil in the world.”
However, he lamented that due to the failures of successive governments, many young people felt compelled to migrate to other countries in search of better opportunities.
‘PM didn’t inform his good friend’
The Congress accused PM Narendra Modi of not conveying to his “good friend” Donald Trump about the outrage over the shackling of Indians being deported. Congress general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said, “It is clear that the PM did not convey to his good friend our country’s outrage at the manner in which Indian citizens are being deported.”