303 passengers of the plane stopped in France got permission to leave after three days
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Paris. A plane grounded for three days at an airport near Paris by French authorities on suspicion of ‘human trafficking’ will be able to take off on Monday. There are 303 passengers on board, most of whom are Indians. Local media gave this news on Sunday. After allowing the plane to leave, French judges halted the case involving more than 300 passengers due to irregularities in the procedure, French news broadcasting television and radio network BFM TV reported.
Four French judges on Sunday began questioning 303 passengers detained by French authorities at Vatry airport, 150 kilometers east of Paris, since Thursday on suspicion of ‘human trafficking’. The hearing was being conducted as part of an investigation launched by the Paris prosecutor’s office on suspicion of human trafficking. The plane is expected to take off on Monday morning, the news said. Its destination is not known. The plane could be flown to India, where most of the passengers are from, or to Nicaragua, which was its original destination, or to Dubai, where the plane took off from.
According to French media, some of the passengers are speaking in Hindi and some in Tamil and are believed to have contacted their families via telephone. The newspaper quoted a source close to the case as saying that ten passengers have requested for asylum. According to French prosecutors, 11 minors who were traveling without guardians have been in custody since Friday. Apart from this, two adult passengers are also in custody since Friday. The custody of all was extended for the next 48 hours on Saturday evening. The aircraft is owned by the Romanian charter company ‘Legend Airlines’. The company’s lawyer Liliana Bakayoko has denied any involvement in ‘human trafficking’.
Liliana said a ‘partner’ company had chartered the plane and was responsible for verifying the identity documents of each passenger. It gives passport information of passengers to the airline 48 hours before the flight. In France, there is a provision of punishment of up to 20 years for human trafficking. India’s embassy in France on Saturday said its staff is at the airport near Paris to help Indian nationals after the travelers were detained by French authorities on suspected “human trafficking” charges. The embassy thanked French authorities for working over the long Christmas holiday weekend in an attempt to “quickly resolve” the situation in an updated message on social media Saturday evening.
The provincial administrator said the plane was to be refueled and was carrying 303 Indian nationals who probably worked in the UAE, Le Monde newspaper reported. According to the report, the Indian travelers may have planned the journey to reach Central America, from where they could have attempted to enter the US or Canada illegally. But a tip-off raised the possibility of passengers becoming “victims of human trafficking” through an organized gang, alerting authorities.
Disclaimer: IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.
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