The charter plane with 303 Indians, which was detained in France over suspicions of human trafficking last week, landed in Mumbai in the wee hours on Tuesday.
The Airbus A340 had onboard 276 passengers after 25, including 2 minors, decided to stay back in France to seek asylum. Two others were held and produced before a judge before being released and placed on assisted witness status, a French news channel said.
The flight which was sequestered for four days, was freed on Sunday night. It took off from Vatry airport near Paris around 2.30 pm local time.
Just after the flight took off, the Indian Embassy in France took to X to thank the French government for resolving the issue. "Thank French Gov and Vatry Airport for the quick resolution of the situation enabling Indian passengers to return home & hospitality. Also for working closely with the embassy team, present throughout the site to ensure the welfare and smooth & safe return. Thank agencies in India, too," the post read.
The plane was sequestered while it stopped for refuelling in Vatry airport in the Marne region of eastern France on suspicions of human trafficking. The flight took off from Fujairah Airport in the United Arab Emirates and was headed to Managua in Nicaragua.
The plane was allowed to leave on Monday after the emergency hearing held at the airport to determine whether to keep the Indians sequestered any longer was halted midway over procedural disputes. The airport was turned into a makeshift courtroom Sunday as judges, lawyers and translators filled the terminal to carry out emergency hearings.
However, Legend Airline's lawyer Liliana Bakayoko said many of the passengers were reluctant to board the flight back to India. Bakayoko told BFMTV that some passengers did not want to return to their country of origin and that they had refused to board the plane initially this Monday morning. "Some of the passengers would be unhappy with this return because they wanted to continue their journey to Nicaragua as planned, the French news broadcast television and radio network reported.
#WATCH | Maharashtra | Plane with Indian passengers that was grounded in France for four days over suspected human trafficking arrived in Mumbai, earlier today
— ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2023
(Outside visuals from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport) pic.twitter.com/OIMPO0c4Hx
The lawyer also promised to cooperate with the investigation and will seek damages from its client because it has suffered significant harm.
Nicaragua has become a popular destination for those seeking asylum in the US. As many as 96,917 Indians attempted to enter the US illegally in the financial year 2023, signalling a 51.61 per cent jump from the previous year, according to data made available by the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). At least 41,770 of those Indians attempted to enter the US via the Mexican land border, CBP data shows. Flights to Nicaragua or third countries where obtaining travel documents is easy have come to be known as 'dunki' flights.
