A year after Jagdish Patel and his family from Dingucha were found frozen to death near the Canadian border while being smuggled into the US, it is suspected that another close family member was aware of their journey and hid details from security agencies.
A source privy to the development said, “Dingucha village has several agents who facilitate the illegal journey to the US. Similarly, there were two agents in Jagdish Patel’s close family who had not only helped dozens of others to go to the US, but had also planned the illegal journey of Jagdish and his three family members in January last year.”
This family member was reportedly in constant touch with human smugglers Yogesh Patel from Vastrapur in Ahmedabad and Bhavesh Patel from Palsana in Kalol, said a police officer. The city crime branch had arrested Yogesh and Bhavesh in January for their alleged involvement in sending Jagdish Patel and his family from Dingucha village, as well as seven others to the US illegally.
Also Read: The Four Indians Who Froze To Death, Confirmed To Be Gujaratis: Canadian Consulate Confirms
The two alleged human smugglers have been charged with culpable homicide.
The Dingucha residents had reportedly separated from a larger group of Indians who made it across the border to the US in -35°C weather.
The Dingucha tragedy prompted agencies in the US and Canada to reach out to Gujarat police for better coordination in stemming illegal immigration from the state.
THE VIBES OF INDIA INVESTIGATION
Last year, in the aftermath of Jagdish Patel and his three family members’ deaths, Vibes of India spent two days in Dingucha to understand the residents’ inherent desire to take life-threatening risks for the big American dream.
Read about it here: Dingucha Where Death Is More Lucrative Than Life
The village consists of Thakors and Patels who are majorly into farming and factory labour. To fetch better employment opportunities, most families here have at least one member working in the US or Canada. “If a child is born in Dingucha, one thing is written in his fate – he will go to America. If a man neither goes to the US nor has any relatives there, then there is a faint chance that he will even get a bride,” a local had told VOI about the unwritten norms of Dingucha.
Also Read: Dingucha Tragedy Takes A New Twist Accused’s Voice Sample Matches Confiscated Recording
