‘Why immigration fraud accused still at large’, Cong leader asks Punjab govt

Chandigarh, June 17 (SocialNews.XYZ) Punjab's Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa on Saturday rebuked the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government for its dally-dallying approach to arresting the prime accused in the case of immigration fraud in which around 700 Indian, mostly Punjabi, international students were facing the deportation charges in Canada.

Congress leader Bajwa said it has been more than three months since the issue came to the fore but the prime accused in this immigration scam, Brijesh Mishra, is yet to be arrested by Punjab Police.

"I am quite intrigued to know what forces have been working to shield the prime accused from getting arrested. Or is it sheer negligence of the AAP government in Punjab as the main accused, Brijesh Mishra, is still at large?" Bajwa asked.

He said now, after more than three months, the police finally woke up from their slumber and formed an SIT on June 12 to investigate the matter, which appears to be nothing but a superficial exercise.

"Minister for NRI Affairs Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal owes an explanation to the people of Punjab about what stopped him so far to get the matter investigated and arrest the prime accused," Bajwa added.

He said this is a matter of grave concern as most of the victims belong to ordinary families. The families of most of the students either took heavy loans from banks, sold their properties, or borrowed money from their relatives to send them to Canada so that they could settle there and fulfill their dreams.

"After these students along with some Canada-based rights groups held a series of massive protests, the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship (IRCC) ministry in Canada announced a temporary relief for these students. Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser has assured that international students who had no involvement in the fraud would not face deportation," Bajwa added.

Source: IANS