The Indian nationals who were deported from the US for illegally arriving in the country claimed that they were sent back on a military aircraft with their hands and legs cuffed throughout the journey.
A US military aircraft carrying 104 deportees, including 19 women and 13 minors, landed at Amritsar airport on Wednesday amid Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.
One of the deportees, Jaspal Singh, said that they were unshackled only after landing in Amritsar.
Singh, a 36-year-old man from Punjab’s Gurdaspur, said that he was kept in custody for 11 days before being sent back home.
"We thought we were being taken to another camp. Then a police officer told us that we were being taken to India. We were handcuffed, and our legs were chained. These were opened at Amritsar airport," he told news agency PTI.
However, earlier on Wednesday, the government dismissed claims that Indian migrants were handcuffed and their legs were chained. The Centre clarified that the viral image being circulated online actually depicts Guatemalan nationals, not Indians.
Jaspal Singh was among several other Indians who were captured by the US Border Patrol along the Mexican border on January 24.
He said he was defrauded by a travel agent who had promised to send him to the US legally.
"I had asked the agent to send me with a proper visa, but he deceived me," said Jaspal, adding that the deal was made for Rs 30 lakh. "A huge sum was spent. The money was borrowed."
Harwinder Singh, another deportee from Punjab, said he was taken through Qatar, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Panama, and Nicaragua before reaching Mexico.
While travelling from Mexico to the US, "We crossed hills. A boat that was carrying me along with other people was about to capsize in the sea, but we survived," he said.
Harwinder also said he saw one person dying in the Panama jungle and one drowning in the sea.
Another deportee from Punjab shared that their "clothes worth Rs 30,000–35,000 were stolen" during the 'donkey route' journey to the US.
Out of the first batch of 104 illegal immigrants, 33 were from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh. The deportees included 19 women and 13 minors, including a four-year-old boy and two girls aged five and seven.
The US deportation of Indian immigrants came just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington for wide-ranging talks with President Donald Trump. According to sources, US officials have prepared a list of 18,000 undocumented Indians to be sent back to India.
Source: India Today