GUWAHATI: A US aircraft carrying the third batch of Indian deportees landed at Shri Guru Ram Dass International Airport in Amritsar on Sunday, February 16. The flight carried 112 deportees, with the highest number of individuals from Haryana.
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Of the 112 deportees, 44 belong to Haryana, followed by 33 from Gujarat, 31 from Punjab, two from Uttar Pradesh, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The arrival happened just a day after another US military aircraft carrying 117 deported Indian nationals landed in Amritsar on late Saturday night.
The Saturday flight, a C-17 military aircraft, brought back 65 individuals from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and Goa, along with one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. According to reports, three individuals on board alleged they were handcuffed and had their legs chained during the journey.
Among the latest batch of deportees, two youths from Rajpura in Punjab's Patiala district were also arrested upon arrival in connection with a 2023 murder case. The accused, Sandeep Singh alias Sunny and Pradeep Singh, were wanted by the police in Rajpura.
Notably, the first batch of Indian deportees arrived in Amritsar on February 5, with 104 individuals on board. Several of the deportees had claimed they were handcuffed and shackled throughout the journey, sparking nationwide outrage.
As a result, opposition parties had demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi raise the issue with the US during his visit to Washington.
