Barely three weeks after his arrest by the state monitoring cell, Bharat, alias Bobby Patel, was released on bail by a regular sessions court, Wednesday. In granting bail, the court acceded that Bobby stood charged with kabootarbazi (human smuggling). Additional sessions judge B.S. Chauhan granted the order on a bond of Rs 15,000 and sunder the condition that Bobby surrenders his passport in three days. He has been prohibited from leaving Gujarat.
Significantly, Bobby is the kingpin of the thriving migrant racket that promises the US Dream to thousands of Gujaratis, particularly from the northern part of the state. The racketeer was in spotlight ever since the fateful end of the Gujarati family of four along the US-Canada border earlier this year in January. It may be recalled that Canadian police found Jadgish Patel (35), wife Vaishali (33) and their children Vihanaga (12) and Dharmik (3) frozen to death in an empty field on January 19. They died just 12 m from the US border.
Patel is considered among the most notorious illegal immigration agents in Gujarat. He holds 28 “legally” issued passports, some even containing his biometric information. “Minor details were altered to secure the multiple passports issued from different RPOs, including Mumbai and Ahmedabad. He used these to slip in and out of the country,” added the police sources.
A Dingucha native, Patel, started by doing odd jobs in the village. Today, his migrants smuggling racket to the US goes via Turkey and Mexico. It is believed to be the most “credible” of all such enterprises that thrive in Gujarat. There is evidence pointing at his network’s base having expanded to Delhi, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
Bobby was arrested on Dec 12, almost 10 months after an FIR was registered by the DCB for human trafficking to the US, via Turkey and Mexico. Close on heels of the investigation that followed, five “agents” in Gujarat were rounded up. The police arrested and booked Rajat Chavda, Jatin Kakkad, Hardik Patel, Rajubhai Prajapati and Shilpa Patel for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy under Section 12 of the Passport Act. All were subsequently granted bail by the Gujarat HC.
Also Read: Dingucha: Where Death Is More Lucrative Than Life
