Red corner notices for two human smugglers thought to be in Canada

AHMEDABAD: After arresting three persons in connection with the deaths while crossing the Canada-US border on January 19, 2022 of four members of a family from Dingucha village in Gandhinagar, Gujarat police has begun the procedure of getting red corner notices issued against two alleged human smugglers.The two persons wanted are Fenil Patel from Surat and Bittu Paji from Punjab. They are reportedly in Canada and had planned the stay and travel of the family in Canada.Jagdish Patel, his wife Vaishali Patel, and their children Vihangi and Dharmik, were found frozen to death near the US border on January 19.City crime branch on January 15 arrested two accused in the case — Yogesh Patel from Vastrapur and Bhavesh Patel from Kalol — as they had allegedly sent the Patel family to Canada on tourist visa. From Canada, Fenil and Paji took over and planned their crossing into the US.“We have begun the procedure to get Interpol red corner notices for Fenil and Paji and they will be brought back to India very soon,” said a senior Gujarat police officer.Gujarat Police are yet to learn the real name of Paji, but senior officers said they will get help from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), who had discovered the four bodies about 12 metres from the border.According to the RCMP, the four had died due to exposure in the -35 degrees temperature.The bodies of Jagdish, Vihangi and Dharmik were found together. Vaishali was found a short distance away from her family.The RCMP immediately launched an investigation which determined that the Patel family entered Canada for the purpose of eventually entering the United States. Further, it was determined that Patels’ travel from India to Canada and their attempt to enter the United States was an organized and thought-out operation, likely run by a human smuggling network, a statement from the RCMP said.