ED launches fresh searches at several locations in 'donkey route' case

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday launched fresh searches in Punjab and Haryana in the investigation of the 'donkey route' case related to illegal Indian immigrants who were deported by the US this year, official sources told PTI.

Raids were made at seven locations at Mansa in Punjab and Kurukshetra and Karnal in Haryana under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

The latest raids were based on "credible" inputs gathered during from earlier searches conducted on July 9 at 11 locations in these two states, the sources said.


Following the July 9 searches, the federal probe agency on Thursday said in a statement that it has recovered 30 original passports and got hold of the names of various agents and immigration agencies running the "donkey route" business of sending Indians abroad illegally on a "large-scale".

Investigation reveals that human traffickers were used to arrange illegal route resources outside India in connivance with donkers (human trafficking conduits), the sources said.

The ED said it found that those willing to go to the US were "duped" by travel agents and middlemen on false promises of sending them through legal channels.

However, they were sent to the US through the "donkey route", crossing the borders of various countries and illegally negotiating dangerous routes, with the help of 'donkers' and the mafia, it had said.