On Tuesday, an investigation was initiated by authorities from Gujarat, a western state of India, into a plane which was detained in Paris due to suspicions of human trafficking. This plane, carrying 303 India-bound passengers, was held in Paris for four days before finally landing in Mumbai, reportedly carrying 276 passengers. The flight was operated by the Romanian airline, Legend Airlines, transporting individuals from the UAE to Nicaragua. An anonymous tip triggered the impounding of the plane in Paris on December 21, claiming its use in human trafficking, a serious international crime. ANI
Out of the total passengers, twenty-one are alleged to be from Gujarat. Senior police officer, Sanjay Kharat, mentioned that these individuals will be pulled in to gather information about the false promises and duplicitous agencies, especially those involved in document forgery. “Upon the return of 21 individuals to Gujarat, our team will engage in discussions with them…”, he stated, making it clear that action will be taken against the involved agencies based on the collected information.
The plane was not initially due to land in Paris, which was just supposed to be a brief technical stop. However, upon receiving the tip, French authorities detained it for four days for further investigation into the allegations. During this time, asylum was sought in France by 25 individuals, including five minors. Two individuals were taken into custody on suspicion of human trafficking. Prefet51 The Indian Embassy in Paris is also conducting their investigation into the matter. IndiaembFrance Post investigation, authorities allowed the plane to leave after four days. As per French laws, foreigners in a transit zone can be confined for a maximum of four days by the authorities for police investigations and might extend to eight days, if necessary. Senat.fr
Liliana Bakayoko, who is representing Legend Airlines in France, asserted in an interview that the passengers had been cleared by the UAE authorities during check-in, and hence no issues were found that would prevent boarding. Indianexpress
In parallel, the Mumbai Police have also been reported to start their investigation into this case. As per a report, Deepak Pandey, a senior Mumbai Police official, instructed the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to produce detailed reports to the city police within 24 hours, after questioning the passengers upon their return. TimesofIndia
More details on this case can be found here: JURIST News