Minus 25 asylum seekers, 2 witnesses, charter plane carrying Indians and grounded in France is back in Mumbai

Grounded in France for four days over suspected human trafficking, a character plane with 276 passengers, mostly Indians, landed in Mumbai airport on Tuesday at 3 am.

Operated by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines A340 aircraft, with 303 Indian passengers, including 11 minors, was bound to Managua in Nicaragua from Fujairah airport in UAE, but was halted by French authorities in Vatry where it had stopped for refuelling on Thursday.

Why was flight with Indian passenger grounded in France?

The flight was grounded by police based on an anonymous tip that it could be carrying victims of human trafficking.

What happened next?

Over the next three days, the plane along with its passengers remained in France, as a judicial inquiry to probe the intent of the journey was initiated by the French authorities.

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It was on Monday night, the charter flight took off for Mumbai from Vatry airport near Paris around 2:30 pm local time, but with only 276 passengers.

What happened to 25 other passengers?

According to a report by a French news channel, 25 people, including two minors, had expressed the wish for asylum and were still on French soil.

Meanwhile, two others were held and produced before a judge. They were later released and placed on assisted witness status to the case, a special status under French law that allows time for further investigation and could lead to eventual charges or to the case being dropped.

Those who remained were transferred to a special zone in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport for asylum-seekers, a report by news agency AP said.

The report by AP also said the prosecutors did not comment on whether the passengers’ ultimate destination could have been the US, the country that has been witnessing a surge in Indians crossing the Mexico-US border this year.

Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko said some passengers didn’t want to go back to India because they had paid for a tourism trip to Nicaragua, AP reported.

In France, foreigners can be held up to four days in a transit zone for police investigations, after which a special judge must rule on whether to extend that to eight days.

The investigation has been taken over by France’s national anti-organised crime unit JUNALCO which will be examining suspected cases of human trafficking. Meanwhile, the airline has denied any role in possible human trafficking.

CISF interrogates all 276 passengers in Mumbai

Upon their arrival at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) interrogated all the 276 Indian passengers.

They were hiding their faces and avoided the media on their arrival at the Mumbai airport.

Indian authorities on passengers return

The Indian Embassy in France Monday thanked the French government and the Vatry Airport authorities for their hospitality and quick resolution of the situation that allowed Indian passengers to return home.

“Thank French Gov and Vatry Airport for quick resolution of the situation enabling Indian passengers to return home and hospitality. Also for working closely with embassy team, present throughout at the site to ensure welfare and smooth & safe return. Thank agencies in India, too,” the Indian Embassy in France wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Why Indians were travelling to Nicaragua?

News reports indicate that the travel may have been planned for the passengers to reach the Central American country, from where they can attempt to enter the United States or Canada illegally.

Nicaragua, a Central American country, has become a popular destination for those seeking asylum in the US. News reports indicate that the passengers may have planned to travelled to the nation to make an attempt to enter the US or Canada illegally.

A PTI report quoted data by the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) stating that as many as 96,917 Indians attempted to enter the US illegally in 2023, signalling a 51.61 per cent jump from the previous year,

Nicaragua being a popular destination for those seeking asylum in the US.

With inputs from agencies