'Forced to trim beard': Sikh deportee from US recalls mistreatment, says 'faced crocodiles, snakes'

As the flight carrying the second batch of Indian deportees from the US arrived in Amritsar, one of the immigrants, Mandeep Singh recalled being forced to deal with crocodiles and snakes and staying without eating for days.

He claimed that he was forced to trim his beard despite being a Sikh.

Singh, 38, who entered the US via the illegal "donkey" route, came in the second batch of 116 immigrants.

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He was arrested by the US Border Patrol on January 27 while trying to sneak into America via Tijuana in Mexico.

“When I spoke to my agent, he said within one month I would be taken to America in a legal way. The agent demanded ₹40 lakh, which I paid in two installments. The journey began with a flight from Amritsar to Delhi last August,” PTI reported, citing him talking to reporters outside the Amritsar Airport.

He further claimed that separately "sub-agents" demanded Rs 20 lakh from him.

"From Delhi, I was taken to Mumbai, then Nairobi (Kenya), and onwards to Amsterdam (The Netherlands) through another nation. From there, we were taken to Suriname. When I reached there, the sub-agents demanded ₹20 lakh, which was paid back home by my family," he said.

While describing his journey, Singh said that from Suriname, he, along with others, boarded a vehicle that was "cramped with many people like me".

He added that the group was then taken to Guyana, followed by Bolivia, and then Ecuador.

Dealing with 'crocodiles and snakes'

Mandeep said that while they were crossing the Panama jungles, they were "face-to-face" with crocodiles and snakes.

They were told by their fellow travellers that if they asked too many questions, they could be shot.

"For 13 days, we moved through the treacherous route that included 12 canals. Crocodiles, snakes – we had to bear all. Some were given sticks to deal with the dangerous reptiles," he added.

'Ate half-bakes chapatis'

Singh further stressed that their food was half-baked 'rotis' and sometimes noodles, adding that proper food was a distant thing for them.

'Forced to trim beard'

He then recalled that after crossing Panama, the group navigated through Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and finally, Tijuana, by which time his beard had been trimmed forcibly.

Notably, as Donald Trump came back to power in the United States, becoming the President, he began a crackdown on illegal immigrants, sending them to their home countries.

The plane carrying the first batch of Indian immigrants landed on February 5, the second on February 15, and the third on February 6.

A total of 332 deportees have returned to India so far.

(With inputs from agencies)