On the evening of Dec 22, French authorities, acting on a tip-off, grounded a Nicaragua-bound (US) plane, an Airbus A340, which took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The chartered flight was carrying over 300 Indians, including 96 Gujarat-origin people, and it is suspected that it was used for ‘human trafficking’.
The French police have detained two passengers and are interrogating them.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office said that Romanian charter company Legend Airlines landed at the Vatry airport for a technical stopover.
Meanwhile, authorities grounded the flight on an anonymous tip that it was carrying passengers “likely to be victims of human trafficking”.
The national anti-organised crime unit, JUNALCO, has taken over the investigation. The sources say that passengers might be trying to illegally enter American land.
The Indian Embassy in France took cognizance of the matter after French authorities informed them of the incident. Currently, the Embassy team has reached and obtained consular access and is investigating further.
Liliana Bakayoko, a lawyer for Legend Airlines, said the company believed it had done nothing wrong and had committed no offence.
She went on to say that if a case is filed, the airline company will also take legal action.
Bakayoko said that a customer booked a chartered plan just 48 hours before the takeoff, and all the documents were verified.
However, the airline company has not provided any official statements so far.
Notably, human trafficking carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in France.