Dingucha Patel Family: A Minnesota court in the US on Friday convicted Harsh Kumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Shand, 50, for their role in an international human trafficking ring in the death of Dingucha’s family. Due to these two, a family of Indian immigrants got stuck at the American border. This Gujarati family got stuck while trying to cross the US-Canada border during the snow storm of 2022.
The tragic incident of death of the Patel family of Dingucha village in Gujarat during human trafficking at the Canada-US border has exposed the dangerous network of international human trafficking. The bodies of Jagdish Patel, his wife Vaishali, 11-year-old daughter Vihangi and three-year-old son Rithli were found in a snowstorm near Emerson, M.toba, Canada on January 19, 2022. The family was part of a group of 11 people who were trying to enter the US illegally.
dirty harry found guilty
Harsh Kumar Ramanlal Patel is an Indian national who is also known as “Dirty Harry”. Now Harsh Kumar Patel and his Florida-based associate Steve Shand have been convicted on four counts, including conspiracy to smuggle immigrants into the US illegally.
Condemnation of operation
US prosecutors described the operation as part of a growing network facilitating illegal immigration from India. Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andy Lugar condemned the operation, saying, “This case highlights the unimaginable cruelty of human trafficking, where money takes precedence over hum.ty. A father, mother and two children lost their lives due to greed in sub-zero temperatures.” ,
11 were assigned the responsibility of transporting immigrants
Shand was reportedly tasked with escorting 11 Indian immigrants to the Minnesota border, but only seven survived the journey. According to evidence presented in court, smugglers told migrants to walk in snowstorms and be careful of difficult weather conditions.
Payment of 1 lakh dollars to reach America
Case witness Rajinder Singh admitted in the court that he had earned more than $4 lakh for taking migrants from Gujarat to America. Most of the migrants were from Gujarat. To reach America he had to pay 1 lakh dollars. A person named Yash Patel gave this testimony on the third day of the hearing of the case against Indian citizen Harsh Kumar Ramanlal Patel and Florida resident Steve Shand.
died due to cold
According to prosecutors, Harsh Ramanlal Patel was part of the smuggling scheme and hired Shand as a driver. Both men have pleaded not guilty to four counts of human trafficking. Federal prosecutors say 39-year-old Jagdish Patel, his 30-year-old wife Vaishaliben, 11-year-old daughter Vihangi and son Rithali died of exposure to cold on Jan. 19, 2022.
walked alone for five-six hours
Yash Patel, 23, testified through an interpreter that he was separated from the Patel family and walked alone for five or six hours before the van containing his body was found, The Canadian Press reports. Prosecutors say the van was driven by Steve Shand. Patel further said. “It was snowing and strong winds were blowing. I was very scared. I needed someone’s help, but there was no one there.”
It started in Canada
Yash Patel said his journey to enter the US began when he arrived in Canada in December 2021 and was sent to a house in Vancouver, then Toronto, then Winnipeg. Yash Patel said he was taken to the border in a van along with a group of other Indian nationals, including a couple and their two children. Patel said the van was stuck there and the evacuated people were evacuated and asked to walk in a straight direction until they found another vehicle.
A border patrol agent made the arrest
At one point he separated from the group and then faced the situation alone. After walking for several hours, he reached a van which, according to prosecutors, was driven by Shand. A US Border Patrol agent later spotted the van, stopped it, and identified Shand as the driver. After this Shand, Yash Patel and another passenger were arrested.
he earns 4 million dollars
Federal prosecutors say Harsh Kumar Patel and Steve Shand tried to smuggle immigrants across the border as part of a larger international smuggling ring. According to prosecutors, convicted human trafficker Rajinder Singh was part of the same trafficking ring as Patel and Shand. Singh said on Tuesday that he has earned more than $400,000 by ferrying more than 500 Indians across the US-Canada border in four years.
An attempt was made to cross the border two years ago also
Families seeking a better life are trafficked to the United States through a criminal network that stretches from India to Canada, and many of them suffer devastating consequences. Two years ago, a similar Indian family died due to heavy snowfall and freezing cold while trying to cross the border. Jagdish Patel, a male member of the family, lost his life while holding his three-year-old son in his arms. During this period his wife and daughter also did not survive.
Family died in minus 38 degrees
It is believed that Jagdish Patel’s family, from Dingucha village in Gujarat state, spent hours in the fields in the cold weather, where temperatures dropped to minus 36 Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The frozen bodies of Patel family members were found by Canadian authorities on the morning of January 19, 2022. Jagdish Patel was holding religious people wrapped in blankets.
