20 Punjabi youths feared drowned in Panama boat tragedy: Survivor

About 20 youths from Punjab headed to the US illegally are feared drowned in a boat-capsize incident at sea between the Colombian port city of Turbo and neighbouring South American country Panama in the first week of this month, as reported by a survivor.

Two families from Kapurthala district claim to have received the tragic news over telephone from the survivor, Sonu of Bhogpur (Jalandhar). They have approached the Kapurthala police with a complaint against travel agents Harbhajan Singh of Kapurthala’s Bhatnura village and Kulwinder Singh Multani of Bhogpur, and sought help from the Indian government in tracing their sons.

Kapurthala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajinder Singh said a case under Sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and various sections of the Immigration Act had been registered against Harbhajan and Multani and they would now be arrested and interrogated to know how many youths were on the boat.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to intervene in the matter to bring justice to the victims and expose the human-trafficking racket.

video: ABP Sanjha