US flight carrying 3rd batch of Indian deportees lands in Amritsar

The US aircraft carrying the third batch of Indian immigrants landed at the Shri Guru Ram Dass International Airport in Amritsar on Sunday.

The flight, with about 112 deportees on board, has the maximum number of persons from Haryana.

Of the 112 deportees, 44 are from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, 31 from Punjab, two from Uttar Pradesh, and one each from Himachal and Uttarakhand.

The flight comes a day after the US military aircraft carrying 117 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amristar. The C-17 aircraft had landed at the Amritsar airport around 11.35 pm on Saturday.

Of the 117 persons, 65 were from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and Goa and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

Three deportees on board the aircraft claimed that they were handcuffed and their legs were chained during the journey.

Among the deportees were also two youths from Rajpura in Patiala district, who were arrested by the police in connection with a murder case upon their landing in Amritsar.

The accused — Sandeep Singh alias Sunny and Pradeep Singh — were wanted in a murder case registered in Rajpura in 2023.

First flight and handcuff controversy

The first batch of Indian deportees arrived in Amritsar on February 5. The plane that landed at the Shri Guru Ram Dass International Airport had 104 Indian nationals on board.

Several deportees on that flight claimed that their hands and legs were cuffed throughout the journey and they were unshackled only after landing in Amritsar.

This triggered nationwide outrage, with the opposition demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise the issue with the US during his visit to Washington.

After a widespread outcry in India, New Delhi conveyed its concerns to Washington about the treatment of deportees.