France plane row: 25 held in France freed; Mumbai Spl IGP seeks probe into trafficking angle
People who returned from France
Twenty-five Indian passengers from the plane grounded in France over suspicions of human trafficking were freed by a judge on Tuesday (Dec 27). This comes, as in India, a day after 276 passengers of the same plane landed in Mumbai, the Special Inspector General of Police (Prevention of Crimes against Women and Children), Maharashtra wrote to the Mumbai police, requesting an investigation into the allegation angle.
25 freed in France
Of the 303 passengers abroad in the aeroplane, 25 had stayed back in France. They had applied for political asylum.
A Judge, on Tuesday, ordered their release on formal grounds. As per prosecutors, this was done considering that the head of the border police at France's main Charles de Gaulle airport "had not referred the case" to the judge within the timeframe stipulated by law.
The Bobigny prosecutor office also said that "they (the passengers) are therefore free to do as they please, even if they are in an irregular situation on French territory."
Among the passengers who stayed in France were five minors, who have now been taken into the care of child welfare services.
Mumbaito investigate human trafficking angle
Writing to the Mumbai police, Mumbai special IGP, IPS officer Deepak Pandey, as per a Times of India report, asked them to inform his office about the probe. He also asked the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials, who had reportedly interrogated the passengers on their arrival back to the country, to submit detailed reports to city police within 24 hours.
A plane carrying 276 people landed back in India on Tuesday (Dec 26). Before their release, the passengers were questioned by immigration and law enforcement agencies. However, as per the Sahar police, no case was registered because the immigration officers did not lodge a complaint.
Background: The flight and alleged human trafficking
On December 21, 303 Indian passengers had boarded a Legend Airlines' A340 flight operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines in Dubai. The plane had stopped in Vatry, France for refuelling, where, based on a tip-off that alleged the plane was carrying suspected victims of trafficking, it was grounded for four days.
Later, the charge of human trafficking, as per AFP, was dropped after it was established the passengers had boarded the plane of their own free will.
(With inputs from agencies)
