Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Indian law enforcement agencies say they are investigating alleged links between dozens of colleges in Canada and two “entities” in Mumbai accused of illegally ferrying students across the Canada-United States border.
A news release Tuesday from India’s Enforcement Directorate — a multidisciplinary organization that investigates money laundering and laws — said a multi-city search had revealed “incriminating” evidence of “human trafficking.”
The allegations have not been tested in court. The federal government, the RCMP, and Indian High Commission in Ottawa, and multiple Canadian college officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Embassy said Thursday it had no comment.
Indian officials say they launched their investigation after Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, 39, was found dead along with his wife and two children near a border crossing between Manitoba and the United States on January 19, 2022.
Last month, a Minnesota jury found two men guilty – Steve Shand of Florida and Harshkumar Patel, an Indian national arrested in Chicago – on four counts related to bringing unauthorized people into the US, transporting and profiting from it.
Patel is a common name in India, and the family was not related to the accused.
Prosecutors said Harshkumar Patel coordinated a sophisticated operation while Shand was a driver. Shand allegedly picked up 11 Indian migrants on the Minnesota side of the border, prosecutors said. Only seven survived the pedestrian crossing. Canadian authorities found the Patel family later that morning, frozen to death.
Harshkumar Patel and Shand have not yet been convicted and may appeal.
Tuesday’s news release said officials launched an investigation after a report was filed against Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel, who allegedly arranged the family’s trip.
Each member of the family would be charged the equivalent of between $93,000 and $102,000 to cross the United States from Canada, the board said.
Get breaking national news
For news that affects Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you as they happen.
The incident has been called the Dingucha case in India, named after the village in the western Indian state of Gujarat where the family originated.
The Enforcement Directorate said last week it searched eight sites in Mumbai, Nagpur in Maharashtra state, and Gandhinagar and Vadodara in Gujarat.
It also alleges that Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel allegedly arranged for people to gain admission to Canadian colleges, which helped in obtaining student visas. The news release did not specify the schools that would be involved.
“Once the individuals or students reach Canada, instead of joining the college, they have illegally crossed the US-Canada border and have never joined any college(s) in Canada,” it said.
The fee paid for admission to college was then refunded, it added.
The search has found that around 25,000 students were referred each year by one “entity” and more than 10,000 students by another to various colleges outside India, the release said.
The network has about 1,700 agents in Gujarat and about 3,500 in India, of which 800 are active, it said.
The release claims that “approximately 112 colleges based in Canada” have entered into an agreement with one entity, while “more than 150” colleges have done so with another entity.
It is unclear from the release whether colleges have ties to either entity.
Anil Pratham, a former senior police official in Gujarat who has since retired, was involved in the investigation of the case until January 2022 when the Patel family died.
He told The Canadian Press that his team was looking at paperwork, such as certificates and documents used by students to apply to colleges and universities abroad.
The police then contacted villagers through various societies and asked them for help.
“We have told the villagers that you should come out and tell (us) who are the victims and who are the agents who live there,” he said in an interview from Gujarat. “This has helped us in our research.”
The process lasted almost three years, because the first step is to establish the crime, accuse, investigate and finalize those charges, he said.
Police in Gujarat received help from their counterparts in Canada and New York, Pratham said.
He also had advice for those who want to study or work abroad.
“There is a legal way to go from India to any country one wants,” he said.
News of the Indian investigation comes amid tensions with the US over border security, a federal overhaul of international student policy, and diplomatic tensions with India over New Delhi’s alleged targeting of Sikh activists in Canada.
US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian goods if Ottawa does not adequately address migrants and drugs illegally crossing the US, prompting Ottawa to earmark $1.3 billion over six years to address border security.
Public Safety Secretary Dominic LeBlanc and Secretary of State Mélanie Joly traveled to Florida on Thursday to discuss border security and trade with the incoming US president.
Before that, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats in October, due to allegations that they used their position to gather information about Canadians and then pass it on to criminal gangs that directly targeted the individuals.
At the time, Canada also claimed that India’s home minister ordered intelligence-gathering operations against Sikh separatists who advocate for an independent country called Khalistan to be carved out of India. New Delhi rejects Ottawa’s claims.
