The Gujarat police have started an inquiry to trace the families of six young Indian nationals, believed to be natives of the state, who were last week arrested by the US border authorities during a failed attempt to be smuggled into America from Canada, an official said on Monday. The six Indian nationals, all in the age group of 19 to 21, were apprehended from a sinking boat in the Saint Regis river in Akwesasne, US, close to the Canadian border.
"We have learnt that those six Indians are natives of Mehsana district. But, we don't have any other information about them. Their families have also not contacted us for any help yet. We have launched an inquiry from our side and started an exercise to trace the families," Mehsana District Superintendent of Police Achal Tyagi said. The US Customs and Border Protection had earlier said seven individuals were apprehended in connection with a failed smuggling attempt early Thursday morning.
Six of the them, citizens of India, were charged with Improper Entry by Alien in violation of the US law. The seventh person, a US citizen, was charged with Alien Smuggling, which is a felony and carries a penalty of a fine and up to 10 years in prison for each violation. Earlier, suspicious activity was reported to the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, which notified the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Department about a boat carrying multiple individuals travelling from Canada near Ontario toward the US.
The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Department responded and observed the vessel taking on water and sinking in the Saint Regis River in Akwesasne. Answering the call for assistance, Border Patrol agents and the HAVFD arrived on the scene to find the reported vessel almost entirely underwater. Following their rescue from the sinking boat, the six Indian nationals were formally arrested by the US border authorities attempting to enter the US from Canada a few days back. These six individuals were identified by the US authorities as N A Patel, D H Patel, N E Patel, U Patel, S Patel and D A Patel.
The seventh person, a US citizen who managed to reach the shore by himself, was held for facilitating human smuggling. In January this year, four people from Gujarat's Dingucha village – Jagdish Patel (39), his wife and their two children – froze to death while trying to cross over into the US on foot from Canada. The Gujarat police had then launched an inquiry against immigration agents, who were sending people illegally to the US from Canada border.
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