Chandigarh, Dec 15 (IANS) Assets worth Rs 5.41 crore of three dubious Punjab travel agents — who sent people to the US illegally through the ‘dunki’ route — were provisionally attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), an official said on Monday.

The seized properties were acquired through the Proceeds of Crime generated by agents Shubham Sharma, Jagjit Singh and Surmukh Singh by sending Indians abroad using the illegal route, said the ED, Jalandhar Zonal Office, in a statement.

The attached properties include agricultural land, residential premises, business premises and bank accounts in the names of such agents and their family members.

The ED initiated an investigation based on various FIRs registered by Punjab Police and Haryana Police under various sections of BNS 2023 (erstwhile IPC 1860) and Immigration Act, 1983, related to the deportation of 330 Indian nationals on military cargo planes in February 2025 by the US government. The 330 people had entered the US illegally.

The ED investigation revealed that these “agents” and their associates used to cheat gullible people by luring them under the pretext of sending them to the US legally, charging hefty amounts for this.

“However, subsequently they used to send people via dangerous routes through various South American countries, and they were made to cross over into the US illegally through the US-Mexico border,” said the statement.

An ED official said in the statement that throughout the journey for illegally entering the US, people were tortured, robbed of money and made to commit illegal acts.

These ‘agents’ and their associates generated proceeds of crime by cheating various persons on false pretexts and obtaining large sums from them, it said.

Earlier, searches were conducted in this case on July 9, 2025 and July 11, 2025, at 19 locations under the provisions of PMLA, wherein incriminating documents and materials were found and recovered, including bogus immigration stamps, bogus visa stamps, records and digital devices, said the statement.

–IANS

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