'Shocked, relieved at last': 33 deported Gujaratis reach home escorted by cops, thank state govt

Ahmedabad: The family of Khushbu Patel, a resident of Vadodara, who was among the 33 deported from the United States, expressed shocked over the manner in which she was treated by the US government. The neighbours of another person in Patan village were surprised to see the video footage of handcuffed Indians being hoarded into the US military aircraft.

As the controversy erupted following a video footage showing 104 shackled Indian immigrants being piled up, the 33 immigrants hailing from different districts of Gujarat landed at the Ahmedabad International Airport from Amritsar early Thursday morning and were escorted by the concerned district police to their respective homes.

Varun Patel, brother of Khusbhu, told reporters outside his house that his sister was not in a state of saying anything at the moment. "She was handcuffed during the entire journey from the US to Amritsar. She had to wait for another day to reach home from Amritsar to Vadodara. She is shocked and exhausted," he added.

Another immigrant Jayesh Rami reached reached Viramgam police station where he recorded his statement. Others will also have to record their statements on how they reached the US and why were they sent back. Rami claimed before the media that he didn't pay any money to reach the US as it was all done by a travel agent. He said that he had to stay in a tent for nearly a month along with others after he was caught by the US officials for having entered illegally.

Meanwhile, audio clips of other deportees were also being circulated in the media who thanked the state government and the police for taking them back home safely and secretly.

"I am Rishita Patel. I have been deported from America. I have reached Gujarat safely for which I thank Gujarat government and the police." Similarly, Ruchi Chaudhary from Mansa in Gandhinagar also said that that she safety returned home for which she was grateful to the government and the police.

Meanwhile, the Bhupendra Patel-led government also issued a statement, acknowledging that out of 104 Indian immigrants, 33 were from Gujarat. "Based on the details of the residential addresses of the 33 citizens, a nodal officer was appointed by the police of the concerned district, under whose guidance all the citizens were safely transported to their homes in a government vehicle," the statement read.

It further added that the state police chief, Vikas Sahay had deputed a Deputy Superintendent of Police at Amritsar Airport for "security and proper coordination of the 33 citizens of Gujarat."

Most of the immigrants are from Mehsana and Gandhinagar district from where several cases of human trafficking have hit headlines in recent years for trying to enter the US illegally through Canada and other countries and lost their lives in the process.

The cases included the four members of Dingucha family in Gandhinagar district who froze to death on the Canada-US border in 2022. The US government has indicted two persons in this case being tried there.

Local investigation revealed that the individuals wanting to reach US illegally were paying from Rs60 lakh to Rs1.2 crore to traffickers.

Earlier, 77 Gujaratis were forced to return from France who were on their way to Nicaragua. The group was among the 303 Indian passengers who had boarded a chartered plane at Dubai to reach Nicaragua allegedly on their way to the US.