Human Trafficking: Indian MP caught smuggling woman to Canada on wife's passport

A BJP MP (Member of the Parliament) from Gujarat was arrested at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, New Delhi, April 18, by the immigration officials for allegedly attempting to smuggle a woman to Canada by misusing his wife's passport.

Babubhai Katara was stopped by immigration officials at New Delhi airport along with Paramjeet Kaur, 30, and a 14–year–old boy identified as Amarjeet Singh.

"He tried to give us the slip and pass them off as his wife and child," said police spokesman Rajan Bhagat.

They were caught trying to board an Air India flight to Toronto and detained by immigration officials after they noticed discrepancies in the passports and discovered that the woman who was traveling with him was one Paramjeet and not his wife Shardaben Katara, he said.

Paramjeet was using his wife's passport to travel to Toronto in Canada on Air India flight AI 187, airport sources claimed.

Unconfirmed sources said that this could be more than a case of impersonation, hinting at human trafficking.

Sources said Paramjeet had paid Katara Rs. 35,00,000 (about $78,000) who promised to help take her to Toronto. While Katara and the boy had valid passports, Paramjeet was traveling on Katara's wife's passport.

Paramjeet and Amarjeet were taken into custody for questioning along with Katara.

According to sources close to the development, initially Katara claimed that he was traveling with his wife, but broke down upon insistent questioning and later admitted that the woman was not his spouse.

Further investigation revealed that Paramjeet had her photograph affixed on top of the original photograph of Katara's wife. Being suspicious, the authorities immediately made some inquiries and found that Katara's wife was still in Gujarat. Upon intense questioning, while Katara cited the excuse of not knowing the rules, Paramjeet admitted that she knew Katara but was unable to explain why she was traveling with him to Torronto.

Initially Katara and Paramjeet were interrogated by Immigration and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials before being handed over to the Delhi police for arrest and further questioning, after an official complaint was registered with them.

A team of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officers also had arrived at the airport to question Katara on whether the diplomatic passport issued to the MP was also genuine, whether he had made similar attempts in the past, or if this is part of a larger human trafficking racket.

According to immigration sources, Katara's arrest has come about as a result of a decision made a week ago by the immigration officials to be extra vigilant and conduct strict surveillance on MPs. Sources said that the department received information from intelligence agencies recently that a number of MPs were traveling abroad with women pretending to be their spouses. MPs had reportedly been able to give authorities the slip till now, as they get easy unobstructed passage through airports being VVIPs.

According to the police investigating the incident, Katara was a serial offender, having committed similar offences twice earlier. It is suspected that human–trafficking racket has spread over states as far as Gujarat, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh.

On April 19, the court of the additional chief metropolitan magistrate remanded Katara in police custody for 11 days.

Katara and Paramjeet are likely to be charged with forgery, fraud, impersonation, criminal conspiracy and cheating. The duo could also be booked under the Passport Act (crimes under which are non–bailable) and Katara could face disciplinary action from the Parliamentary Committee. If found guilty, the duo could face jail sentences.

"It is unfortunate that people in power think they can get away with anything, and more often than not, they do," said Maxwell Pereira, former Joint Commissioner of Police in Delhi.

"I am glad that police authorities have detected this impersonation and there are specific sections of the IPC which penalise the offence of impersonation which can be considered. The purpose for impersonation is important in this case as it has been used gain access to an airline under false pretences," he added.

Pereira said such incidents were not uncommon but said an MP being embroiled in such a crime was a matter of shame.

"His [Katara's] role in illegally carrying people out of the country cannot be ruled out," said Neeraj Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime). "He traveled to the US and UK in 2005 and 2006 before this and took along other persons using a similar modus operandi."

Meanwhile, Paramjeet and Amarjeet's families have placed the blame squarely on travel agents claiming that they were innocents and were acting on the instructions of the travel agents who promised to grant them visas and access to US.

It is believed that Paramjeet is illiterate and was on her way to meet her husband who is working as a taxi driver in the US. "I was married four years ago to Paramjeet Singh, a taxi driver in New York. The deal had been struck through an agent. I only paid the money for my ticket," she said, adding that she was going to Toronto and from there had planned to go to the US to be with her husband. It is believed that the remaining money was to be paid once she reached Canada. "Paramjeet is innocent. It is the travel agent who cheated us and who should be arrested immediately. We are not even aware that an MP is involved in the case," said Charanjeet Kaur, Paramjeet Kaur's mother–in–law.

This distraught family of Amarjeet has a similar tale to narrate. Denying having any links with Katara, Amarjeet Singh's father Jaswant Singh Bittu said that he had struck a deal with a travel agent to send his son to Canada on a student visa.

"I was supposed to pay Rs. 11,00,000 (about $24,500) after Amarjeet reached Canada. The travel agent took my son to Delhi for visa purposes and had asked me to join later. Now I hear that my son is in trouble," he said.

The police have dispatched teams to Hyderabad, Gujarat and Punjab to look for travel agents connected with the crime. According to the police, the role of influential people, including immigration officials, could not be ruled out.

Katara contested for the Lok Sabha elections from the Dohad constituency in Gujarat in 1999 as a Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and won.

From 1999–2000, he was a member of the Committee on Urban and Rural Development.

In 2004, he was re–elected to 14 Lok Sabha (second term) as a member of the Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests.

Katara, who is also president of the Dharma Pracharak Vibhag (DPV) and heads the Dabod branch of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), has a chequered record as a MP. Not only are there several charges of fraud pending against him, Katara's alleged mafia links have made him somewhat infamous among locals.

In one of the more significant cases pending against the MP, his closest rival in the last election alleged that his victory – by a slim margin of 360 votes – was as a result of electoral manipulation.

According to media reports, the BJP has decided to suspend Katara from the party pending investigations. Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani and BJP chief Rajnath Singh ordered his suspension from the party barely hours after his arrest over charges of cheating, forgery and impersonation.

"He has been suspended from the party on directions of the Leader of the Opposition and the party chief. A show cause notice has been issued to Katara and he should reply in 10 days," said senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

"If it's all true, such a person can have no place in the party," said BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar. "This is quite a serious and sensitive matter."

His suspension came after Singh, who found the charges against the Gujarat lawmaker serious, asked the party to obtain full account of what happened at the airport.

The BJP has decided to distance itself completely from the latest debacle saying it was a one–off incident, a 'personal matter' of Katara and the party thought it fit that the law take its own course.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has also announced that Katara would not be allowed to attend the House even if he manages to get bail. Chatterjee has also announced that he has called for an all–party meeting next week to discuss the conduct of MPs. "We will sit together...It will not just be this (human smuggling) matter, but general conduct of members," he said.

Meanwhile, ruling secular Congress party has taken a dig at the Hindu nationalist party, saying that the act of the MP revealed the true character of the political party he owed allegiance to.

Congress party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said the expulsion of Katara from the Lok Sabha was just "only one aspect" as the matter was unprecedented and it indicated an immigration racket.

"This is the true face, nature and character of the BJP. There are many aspects to the case including moral and criminal," he said, but refrained from specifying what action should be taken against him. "Let us not quickfire verdict," he added.

Reacting on the issue, Minister of Textiles Shankersinh Vaghela said, "it is not simply a party issue. This is little bit larger. Party may take action but if it is true, what he did is not fair."

Human trafficking is a growing problem in India with thousands of people, who are struggling to make a living in India, attempting to seek their fortunes in the MiddleEast, Europe and the US.

In the past, eminent Indian danseuse Mallika Sarabhai and Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi were charged with human trafficking when complaints poured in that they had taken huge amounts of money, promising to take the get visas for the complainants and take them abroad as part of their troupes. Charges were soon dropped, however, as nothing could be proved.