Nicaragua-bound flight carrying over 300 Indians allowed to resume journey after three days of grounding in France

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, December 24

A flight carrying mostly Indian passengers detained for three days in France on suspicion of human trafficking has been allowed to resume its journey on Monday to Nicaragua.

After authorising the A340 aircraft, operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines, to leave, the French judges cancelled the hearings of the over 300 passengers due to irregularities in the procedure, reported BFM TV, a French channel.

The 303 passengers of the chartered flight are mostly stated to be from Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat

Four French judges had earlier in the day begun questioning the passengers detained by the French authorities at Vatry airport, 150 km east of Paris, since Thursday over suspected “human trafficking”.

The 300 Indians detained at an airport near Paris were questioned one by one by four French judges on Sunday. The chartered plane carrying the Indians had landed from Dubai at Vatry airport on Thursday and was detained following a tip-off that their final destination to Nicaragua was part of a human smuggling ring that was sending them illegally to the US.

Ten of the passengers have requested asylum, reported the French newspaper Le Monde

The judges had the authority to extend their detention, reported the French newspaper Le Monde.

The hearings, which began at a section of the airport converted into a courtroom, would have helped the judges decide whether or not to keep the passengers in the waiting area of the airport, reported BFM TV. “It is urgent since we cannot keep foreigners in a waiting zone for more than 96 hours. Beyond that, it is the judge of freedoms and detention who must rule on their fate,” it quoted an airport manager as stating.

The 303 passengers of the chartered flight are mostly stated to be from Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Ten of the passengers have requested asylum, the paper reported. The airport’s main hall was covered on the outside by tarpaulin and surrounded by the French police.

Two of the passengers, believed to be part of the ringleaders, were taken in custody on Friday in order to verify any potential role they may have played in the hiring of the chartered flight and the objective of undertaking a flight to the unusual destination of Nicaragua.

The Indian embassy in Paris had earlier said it was working with the French Government for the welfare of the detained Indians and for early resolution of the situation. The detained passengers were in touch with their families back home. Embassy consular staff were stationed at the airport, the embassy posted on X.