Chandigarh, March 16
As many as 23 Punjab youths have been rescued from the drug mafia functioning in tandem with travel agents from India, especially Punjab, in Thailand. Most of them were allegedly being used as drug-traffickers. Besides Punjab, there are several youths from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka in the captivity of the mafia, it is learnt.

Four such youths — Lovepreet Singh (Fatehgarh Sahib), Mr Rachhpal Singh, Satnam Singh and Jaspal Singh (all Jalandhar district), — have been brought here from Thailand and others have been put at a safe place in that country with the help of officials of the Indian Embassy. If everything goes well, they will return to Punjab, within two weeks as embassy officials in Thailand have moved their cases in court for getting permission for their over-stay and to complete other legal procedures.

Lovepreet Singh, Rachhpal Singh, Satnam Singh and Jaspal Singh had paid Rs 3 lakh each to travel agents in Punjab for getting them visas for some European country or the USA etc. However, they were taken to Thailand with the promise that they would be sent to some European or other good country. But they were kept in Thailand for about four months and finally returned to India with the help of the Lok Bhalai Party headed by Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia. Mr Lovepreet Singh, a singer by profession, wanted to settle in the USA. Mr Ramoowalia produced all these four youths before a select group of newspersons in the local Press Club today. Mr Rachhpal Singh said he along with two others — Satnam Singh and Jaspal Singh — was taken to Thailand by travel agent Bachan Singh, who lives in Patiala’s Tripari area. “The agent took us to Thailand and handed over to one Mr Gurdial Singh Sharma for sending us further to some other country. First they were promised to be sent to South Korea, with the assurance that they would be able to earn Rs 50,000 per month there. However, no promise was kept and they remained wandering around while all their documents were seized by the agent in Thailand. However, the Lok Bhalai Party brought them back with the help of Indian Embassy officials.”

But the way 19 others were rescued from the clutches of drug-traffickers and agents is interesting? A few days ago, Lok Bhalai Party chief Ramoowalia got a call from Thailand that Punjabi youths were being kept in a private lockup near Bangkok. Mr Ramoowalia rushed his party activist, Mr Ravinder Singh Turna to Thailand. Mr Turna, contacted Indian Embassy officials, who guided him to a gurdwara where exact information was available with regard to the detention of Punjabi youths by the mafia.

“I met a Punjabi youth in the gurdwara who used to come there to take food. He guided me to the town where youths were in the custody of Ismail from Pakistan”, said Mr Ravinder Turna. Mr Turna got in touch with embassy official Ashok Harsajjan, who extended all help to put these boys at a safe place.

Mr Turna said people like Ismail used to take such youths kept in detention to Laos and Cambodia from where they were used to smuggle smack in Thailand. He said he had come to know that there were orders to shoot at sight anyone found smuggling smack in Laos and Cambodia. Many youths were either killed in encounters or simply disappeared while smuggling smack.