Amritsar: Days after 117 illegal Indian immigrants were deported from the United States, a number of them have claimed that their hands were handcuffed and their legs were also chained, during their journey. The C-17 US military aircraft carrying them landed at the Amritsar airport at around 11:40 pm on Saturday.
While this was the second US plane that landed at the airport carrying illegal immigrants, the first one landed on February 5 with 205 Indians onboard. The Third US military aircraft is expected to land by midnight today, with over a hundred illegal immigrants.
‘Told us that we will be shifted to another camp’
Speaking to the news agency PTI, of his experience during the return journey, Daljit Singh said, “Our legs were chained, and hands were also cuffed. Seconding him another deportee Sourav added, “A day before yesterday, we were told that we would be shifted to another camp. When we were put into a plane, they said we were being taken to India.”
“We were caught while crossing the US border on January 27 and kept at a detention center for 18 days. We were deported on February 13, handcuffed with our legs chained,” added Harjit Singh, a resident of Khanowal Ghuman village in Gurdaspur district.
They were among the 117 deportees who landed at the airport on Saturday. Among the deportees, 67 were from Punjab and 33 from Haryana. Among others, eight were from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, officials said.
Deportees included two brothers, who were wanted in a murder case
Among the deportees included two brothers Sandeep and Pradeep, who were wanted in a murder case in Patiala. Soon after their landing, they were taken into custody by Punjab Police. The brothers hailed from Rajpura town in Punjab, authorities said.
