Delhi court denies bail to man involved in smuggling gullible Indian nationals to Russia

Delhi's Rouse Avenue court has rejected the bail plea of ​​a man allegedly involved in smuggling gullible Indian nationals to Russia and cheating them to get better and well-paying jobs. The accused, along with others and through their agents, trafficked Indian nationals to Russia on the pretext of getting Russian Army related jobs, security guards, aides, better life, employment, education and huge amounts of money were illegally charged to these people.

Furthermore, these agents or human traffickers were misleading Indian students/citizens into taking admission in dubious private universities in Russia instead of government ones or known public universities, by offering them free visa extensions discounted price, fee structure, etc. and subsequently, the victims were left to fate. the mercy of visa officers and college authorities. Special Judge Atul Krishna Agrawal, in an order passed on June 7, said the allegations against the accused applicant (Micheal Elangovan Anthony) are grave and serious in nature. The increase in the number of applicants/accused on bail at this stage will hamper further investigation into the case.

It is also possible that the plaintiff/accused will attempt to destroy evidence that has not yet been obtained by the investigator. The plaintiff/accused can also help other defendants continue to evade the legal process. Considering all these facts and the role of the applicant/accused as put forward by the prosecution, there is no reason to grant bail to the applicant/accused at this stage. Accordingly, the bail application is rejected, the Court said.

The Court noted that after their arrival in Russia, the passports of these Indian nationals were confiscated by officials in Russia. The victims were trained in combat and given Russian army uniforms and prizes. Subsequently, these Indian nationals were deployed to frontline bases in the Russian-Ukrainian war zone, against their will and at the risk of their lives. It was also found that some victims of human trafficking were also seriously injured in the war zone.

However, the accused, through his lawyer, argued that he had been falsely implicated in the present case. He was an employee of one of the named defendants, Ramesh Kumar Palanisamy, whom he met last year at a clothing exhibition in Russia. He started working with him as an employee at a garment company from November last year and barely worked for him for four months. Ramesh Kumar Palanisamy also sent an invitation letter to the plaintiff or the defendant inviting him to come to Russia for garment making business but due to the ongoing war situation he asked the plaintiff or the accused to wait a certain time until the situation is normal.

It was further stated that the plaintiff/accused was himself a victim as an invitation was also sent to him and the said Ramesh Kumar Palanisamy had offered him a job in Russia, but nothing happened. Accordingly, the CBI and FIR were registered against the accused for the offenses of criminal conspiracy, cheating and human trafficking for the purpose of exploitation, which are punishable under sections 120B, 420 and 370 of the Indian Penal Code. It was further alleged against the applicant/accused that he and Ramesh Kumar Palanisamy had stayed in a hotel room in Chennai from November to December 2020. During the said period, they had visited the Russian Embassy for establish the connection with a view to obtaining a visa for Russia.

The plaintiff or accused had arranged tickets for Nepalis and he even tried to obtain fake tickets for people smuggling to Russia. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)