Sent on fake visa, Talwara youth in Indonesian jail for 10 months

Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi

Talwara, November 15

Jasbir Singh, 27, of Narnaul village under Block Talwara has been languishing in an Indonesian jail for the past 10 months. He had gone to Indonesia in search of greener pastures in January, but little did he know that the fate would have something else in store for him.

Have written to centre, but no help yet

I have written to Hoshiarpur MP and Union Minister Som Prakash and the Ministry of External Affairs to get my son released, but no action has been taken yet. — Tripta Devi, Jasbir Singh’s mother

Two agents booked for fraud

The Tanda police have booked two travel agents for allegedly duping two persons. Harpal Singh, a Singhpur resident, has alleged that travel agents Sandeep Kumar and Dogar Mal allegedly took Rs 10,80,000 from him in exchange for a fake visa for Switzerland. In another case, Ranjit Kaur told the police that on the pretext of sending her to Australia, the two travel agents took Rs 6,18,500 from her and provided her with a fake visa

Jasbir told his plight to social activist Deepak Thakur over the phone from Indonesia. He said he had gone to Indonesia through a travel agent, Pushp Pathania, of Namoli block village in Talwara. He had given Rs 2.90 lakh to the agent to procure the visa. He reached Indonesia on January 19 this year from the Delhi airport via Sri Lankan airline. There, the Indonesian police arrested him on charges of travelling on a fake visa.

Jasbir accused Pathania of providing him the fake visa. He said the Indonesian court had sentenced him to one year and 10 months in prison for illegal entry into the country. Jasbir is currently lodged in Jakarta jail.

Jasbir’s mother Tripta Devi said on coming to know about her son’s arrest her world came crashing down. The entire family is in a state of shock and is praying for Jasbir’s safe return. She alleged the travel agent had been paid another Rs 17 lakh so far to ensure the release of Jasbir. However, even after 10 months, he has not yet come out of the bars.

She has also written and appealed to Lok Sabha MP from Hoshiarpur and Union Minister of State Som Prakash and the Ministry of External Affairs to get his son released but no action has been taken to date. Tripta Devi has appealed to the Government of India and Punjab for the safe return of her son.