AMERICAN DREAM TURNS NIGHTMARE

In a tragic incident, a family of four from the Manekpura village in Gujarat’s Mehsana district died while attempting to cross into the US from Canada, when the boat they were in capsized in the St Lawrence river.

- Jumana Shah

The bodies of Pravin Chaudhary (50), his wife Daksha (45), their son Meet (20) and daughter Vidhi (24) were found in a river marsh near the US-Canada border, along with the remains of another immigrant Romanian family who were on the same boat. This came less than 15 months after another family from the state— Jagdish Patel (39), his wife Vaishaliben (37) and children Vihangi (11) and Dharmik (3)—froze to death while illegally crossing the US-Canada border. Manekpura is just 25 km away from Dingucha, the village in Gandhi-nagar district where the Patels hailed from. Once again, the growing obsession in north Gujarat with the American soil as well as the thriving network of traffickers—or ‘agents’—who are capitalising on it, have come under sharp focus.

“We have learnt during our investigation that at least 5,000 families have been sent to the US by such agents after the January 2022 Dingucha incident,” said a senior police officer. “As long as there is demand, racketeers will continue to find innovative ways to dodge the law.”