“We don’t have the money to bring back the bodies.”
A relative of Jagdish Patel shared the plight of the family with Vibes of India after he died trying to illegally enter the US through the Canadian border. Patel’s wife Vaishali Patel, daughter Vihangi Patel and son Dharmik Patel — they all accompanied him — froze to death near Manitoba on the Canadian side of the border in January last year. Temperatures in the region dropped to as low as -30 degrees Celsius at the time.
The family hailed from Dingucha which has a history of agents leading many Gujarati families to their ruin by illegally migrating them to the US.
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Dingucha, a small village which is a few kilometres away from Kalol District, Gandhinagar, has a meagre population of around 3,600 people. People claim that unemployment is an epidemic there, so much so that even educated people struggle to find jobs. But then, there is also a certain class of people who aspire to a lavish lifestyle.
They walk into the trap laid by agents who don’t have to be skilled to sell the American dream. From there on, nothing matters as the doomed romantics pursue their American ambition at any cost.
Shedding fear of the law, these gullible people resort to duplicitous means like having illegal passports or entering the USA from the southwest border so as not to get caught.
As Vibes of India’s investigation revealed, Digucha people even took pride in their ‘smartness’, claiming they could go to Oxford without a visa.
Also Read: Dingucha Tragedy: Close Family Member Facilitated Patels’ Ill-Fated Journey To US
While international law agencies have collaborated to bring down the human smuggling rackets, top agents in the trafficking ring are still functioning freely. A case in point is Mahendra Patel, a resident of Dingucha and elder brother of Jagdish, who is suspected to be connected to the nexus.
He is under scanner for facilitating the illegal journey of the Patel family. According to a report, his name has also surfaced in the mysterious disappearance of nine illegal immigrants from the Dingucha village since February 4.
According to a national daily, Chetna Rabari, wife of Bharat Rabari, one of the nine missing people, filed a complaint with the Prantij police, alleging that Mahendra and his alleged aide Divyesh Patel of being involved in the human smuggling racket. She mentioned that the nine people, including two women, left for the US on January 8 and nothing has been heard from them ever since.
Also Read: Dingucha Tragedy Takes A New Twist: Accused’s Voice Sample Matches Confiscated Recordings
Bharat would depend on farming and animal husbandry for livelihood, her FIR said. According to the FIR, Mahendra and Divyesh promised to get Bharat and the eight others work permits in the US for a fee of Rs 70 lakhs from each. They paid an advance of Rs 20 lakh each before leaving India and promised to deliver the rest on reaching the US.
Concerned after not hearing from her husband for seven months, Chetna Rabir approached the police who arrested Divyesh, but Mahendra continues to escape them.
Also Read: Dingucha Case: Travel Agents Denied Bail Question Court’s Jurisdiction Over Scene Of Crime
An officer close to the investigation told the daily, “Mahendra works as a crosser who provides logistic support for crossing international borders. He has been on the radar since the Dingucha case. Even the Canadian authorities refused to let him attend Jagdish and his family’s last rites, fearing that he would cross over to the US illegally if given a chance to roam freely in Canada.”
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