A 34-year-old man from Malla Bedia village of Nawanshahr has been jailed for five years in Northern Macedonia after he was nabbed in the country without a passport. Currently he is in the jail of Skopje city, which is the capital of Macedonia. The man, Balvir Ram, wanted to go to Greece to find a job but was instead allegedly “sold” by a Ludhiana-based travel agent, who is currently in Armenia, to some Pakistani travel agents in Serbia.
Ram’s family told The Indian Express that their boy is innocent and the sole breadwinner of a family of seven. Ram’s father, Tarsem Lal, on Saturday wrote a letter, the copy of which is with The Indian Express, to the Foreign Minister, Ministry of External affairs seeking intervention into the matter. He mentioned in the application that his son was arrested in Macedonia’s border because the travel agent, who promised them to take Ram legally to Greece, was taking him illegally.
“I also met local MLA Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi on Saturday and appraised him about the situation and also handed over to him the letter,” the father said, adding that he will also file a police complaint on Monday against the agent.
According to the family, Ram left for Greece on February 17 this year after paying Rs 3.50 lakh to a Ludhiana-based travel agent.
“Later, when my son was caught, the same agent demanded an additional Rs 1.50 lakh which we paid to him,” Tarsem said.
According to the family, Ram and four others were first flown to Dubai, from where he was taken to Serbia on February 20 on a different flight. After landing in Serbia, Ram was taken to a room on the border of Macedonia by some Pakistani travel agents who then allegedly told him that the Ludhiana agent had “sold” him to them, while confiscating his passport. There he met six other Indians —mostly from Punjab and Haryana.
All seven of them crossed the border and entered Macedonia on February 24. “They were first made to walk on foot for two-and-a-half hours and then a van ferried them till the Greek border. Here, two more Pakistani agents joined them and the party was again asked to walk,” said Ram’s wife, Kuldeep Kaur. She added that the party was 10 minutes away from the Greek border where they were stopped by police and taken into custody.
“My husband was not allowed to contact his family for two months. The Macedonian authorities suspected that he was a Pakistani as well as he did not have his passport with him,” Kaur said. She added that Ram’s brother had to later pay Rs 70,000 to the Pakistani agents in Serbia to get the passport back and prove his nationality.
“The other six Indians that he had met had their passports with them. They told the Macedonian authorities that my husband was a travel agent and was trying to smuggle them into Greece using the Donkey method. Based on their confessions, Ram was convicted for five years even as the others got two years in prison,” Kaur said.
Donkey, the illegal way of entering a foreign country via multiple stops in other countries, is a popular method adopted by thousands every year.
Kuldeep said her husband was the only earning member in their family of seven. “My husband is a mason. He has been convicted for a crime that he did not commit. The Indian government should intervene and get my husband back.” She added that the family came to know about Ram’s arrest through some friends here who are helping us with the situation, said Kuldeep Kaur.
SAD MLA Sukhi while talking to The Indian Express said that the family had come to meet him and he has assured them that he will raise the matter with the government. “I have also asked them to file a police complaint so that legal action can be taken against the agent,” he said.