E-Paper
Donkey route probe: ED seizes ₹4.62 cr, 6kg gold bars, 313kg silver from agents
Besides incriminating chats on phones, Enforcement Directorate finds property documents were kept as surety by agents in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi to send people to US illegally via Mexico border.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) confiscated cash amounting to ₹4.62 crore, 6kg of gold bullion and 313kg of silver after raiding 13 locations in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi on Thursday as part of an ongoing money-laundering investigation linked to illegal immigration of Indians to the US through the “donkey route”, officials said on Friday.
The ED investigation stems from 19 FIRs registered by the Punjab and Haryana Police in connection with the deportation of 330 Indian nationals on board military cargo planes in February 2025 by the US government. These people were found to be living illegally in the US. The Jalandhar-based regional headquarters of the federal agency is probing money-laundering in connection with the illegal immigration racket.
“During the raids on the business and residential premises of Delhi-based travel agent Tarun Khosla led to the recovery of unaccounted cash amounting to ₹4.62 crore, 6kg of gold bullion and 313kg of silver. Moreover, incriminating chats from phones and electronic devices were found during the searches,” an ED official said.
He said that property documents of aspirants kept as surety for payment of the amount to send them to the US illegally via the “donkey route” through Mexico were recovered from the premises of Balwan Singh, a Panipat-based travel agent.
The donkey route refers to the long and hard journey undertaken by immigrants to enter countries illegally.
Incriminating documents and mobile phones were recovered from Jalandhar’s Richi Travels, too.
On December 15, the ED provisionally attached the movable and immovable properties worth ₹5.41 crore, equivalent to the proceeds of crime generated by agents, namely Shubham Sharma, Jagjit Singh and Surmukh Singh, who were involved in sending citizens to the US illegally. The attached properties include agricultural land, residential and business premises and bank accounts in the names of such agents and their families.
The ED has recorded statements of the deportees that led it to suspects who are being searched. Each deportee paid between ₹45 lakh- ₹55 lakh to travel agents whom they had never met in person but were connected to through local contacts. The ED asked the deportees to furnish all documents, including bank account details of the agents to whom payments were made.
The ED investigation found the deportees were facilitated by a network of travel agents, middlemen, overseas associates, hawala operators, lodging and other logistics arrangement providers.
In July, the offices and houses of suspects and agents in 11 cities, including Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala and Moga in Punjab, and Ambala, Kurukshetra and Karnal in Haryana, were raided during which incriminating material was found, including bogus immigration and visa stamps.
