Punjab: Duped by travel agents, 6 youths from Doaba stuck in Armenian jail

Duped by travel agents, six Punjabi youths from Doaba region have been languishing in an Armenian jail for the last two months.

The youths, aged between 20 and 29, had taken flights to Armenia between June and August 2023, and from there, opted to enter Georgia through donkey routes on December 19, 2023. But as fate would have it, they were caught by Georgian border police days later and later handed over to Armenian immigration authorities.

The youths, identified as Ajay Kumar, 29 of Jalandhar’s Samrari village, Sukhwinder Kumar, 29, of Chhokran village of Jalandhar, Prabhjot Singh, 28, of Hussainpur village in SBS Nagar district, Ajay Kumar, 28, of Garhi Fateh Khan village of SBS Nagar district, Rohit Kumar, 28, of Jalandhar and Jaskaran Singh, 20, of Chakk Sabu village of Jalandhar, have been in jail since November.

The families of the youths claim they were unaware of the proper channels to approach to get their wards home, and that the travel agents are now demanding more money to arrange legal aid.

Ajay’s mother, Paramjit Kaur said that a Jalandhar-based travel agent had promised to send her son to Georgia directly but handed over the legal visa to Armenia.

“We had paid nearly ₹2.5 lakh for an Armenian visa. We were told by a travel agent that Ajay would cross into Georgia hassle-free through road or rail route. We have not been able to contact with the travel agent ever since Ajay was caught by Georgian authorities,” she said.

Sukhwinder’s mother Sarabjit said that for nearly 10 months, they had no contact with him. “It was only after they were handed over to the Armenian police that our children contacted us briefly and revealed the conditions they are living in. We appeal to the governments of India and Punjab to pursue our case,” she said.

Paramjit Kaur Cheema, Jaskaran’s mother, said her son is the youngest of the lot and she would have never sent him to Armenia if she knew about the apathetic living conditions.

“We had not even begun paying the installments of the loan taken to send Jaskaran abroad when he was caught. Our children want to come back and live simple lives,” she said.

The families added that they had even approached Rajya Sabha member Balbir Singh Seechewal for assistance recently but didn’t get any positive response.

Ajay’s brother Ricky said that even after duping lakhs of rupees from these gullible youths, the travel agents are demanding more money to arrange legal aid to these victims.

Meanwhile, Seechewal, who brought back dozens of youths stuck in several countries ever since he assumed office, said the matter had not been brought to his notice.

“We will provide all possible assistance to the families to bring their children from Armenia. We will press upon the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy to ensure their release,” Seechewal said.