Global Courant 2023-05-14 03:39:00
Police in India say they are looking for three men in connection with the death of a Gujarat family who died in March when they tried to enter the United States by boat via Akwesasne, Que.
Achal Tyagi, superintendent of police of the city of Mehsana, in the western state of Gujarat, says authorities have issued a “lookout” for three men: Nikulsinh Vihol, Sachin Vihol and Arjunsinh Chavda.
The alert is used at checkpoints, borders and immigration ports to look out for a person wanted by the police.
Indian police allege the men were involved in running immigration firms that some people use to enter countries with false documents.
Four Indian nationals whose bodies were among eight people taken from the St. Lawrence River had traveled in Canada on a tourist visa from their home state of Gujarat. They included Praveen Chaudhari, 50; his wife Daksha, 45; their daughter Vidhi, 23; and their 20-year-old son Meet.
Pravinbhai Chaudhari, 49, is seen in an undated handout photo alongside his family, including his wife Dakshaben, 45; son Meet, 20; and 23-year-old daughter, Vidhi. (HO-Mehsana Police/The Canadian Press)
Tyagi said a police complaint had been filed against the three wanted men and the case is still in the early stages of investigation. They are charged with wrongful death not amounting to murder, criminal breach of trust, deceit and dishonest solicitation of property and criminal conspiracy.
“The indictment would come at a much later date,” Tyagi said in an interview this week.
“We’re trying to track them down.”
The complaint initiates the criminal case and was filed by Praveen Chaudhari’s younger brother, Ashwin Chaudhari.
Unsafe travel conditions
According to the indictment, translated by The Canadian Press from Gujarati and known as a First Information Report, at least one of the alleged brokers, Sachin Vihol, lived in Canada and acted as a point of contact.
The allegations in the report, which have not been tested in court, give some details about the latest moves of the Chaudhari family’s journey.
The report claims that the brokers received the equivalent of about $100,000 Cdn to allow Praveen Chaudhari and his family to cross to the US by taxi. Later, relatives were reluctantly persuaded at the last minute to travel by boat and were reassured that despite the bad weather there would be no problems.
Ashwin Chaudhari, a 40-year-old farmer, said in the complaint that he was in contact with the family through phone calls and WhatsApp.
The bodies were recovered on March 30 and 31 near the border between Quebec and Ontario. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)
According to the complaint, his brother Praveen told him in January that he was traveling to Canada and had been issued a visitor visa.
It is unclear how he obtained the travel document, but the family boarded a flight from Ahmedabad, India, to Toronto on February 3, 2023, later writing that they were staying at a hotel near a Toronto airport.
The Chaudharis were reportedly contacted around March 10 by Nikulsinh Vihol, who said he could get them to the US for about $100,000 Cdn. Praveen asked his brother to help finance the trip, so he went to relatives to collect the amount. Ashwin said he made the payment near a temple.
That day, Sachin Vihol, who reportedly lived in Canada, arranged for the Chaudhari family to fly to Winnipeg and on to Montreal on March 23, moving them to various locations over the next six to seven days.
During that time, the complaint alleges, they were unable to bathe, were given little to eat and repeatedly told it was not safe to cross the border.
According to the complaint, Sachin Vihol, who had been in Canada for about five years, told them the plan was changing and the family would have to make the water crossing via a five to seven minute boat ride. Praveen Chaudhari initially refused but was eventually persuaded to make the journey.
When a vehicle came to pick them up, the complaint said a Romanian family was also inside and wanted to cancel because of the weather.
“After about an hour I got a call from my brother saying we have to leave today, and as Sachin said, if you don’t go there will be trouble,” reads the indictment, which quotes Ashwin Chaudhari.
He later received a text message from his niece Vidhi’s boat saying that it was not working properly and the weather was bad.
“After that I had no further contact with them,” the report reads.
‘We just want answers’
The bodies of the two families were recovered on March 30 and 31 from the St. Lawrence River in Akwesasne, about 80 miles southwest of Montreal and a similar distance southeast of Ottawa.
The four other people who died were a Romanian family from the Toronto area, who fled after being served an eviction notice. They were identified as Florin Iordache, his wife Cristina (Monalisa) Zenaida Iordache, and their Canadian-born children, two-year-old daughter Evelin and one-year-old son Elyen.
According to the complaint, Ashwin Chaudhari called one of the alleged smugglers in India after his brother did not call back and was told to wait.
A few hours later, he was told that his relatives had been arrested by US authorities and was reassured that someone would post their bail.
Florin Iordache and his wife Cristina (Monalisa) Zenaida Iordache. (The Canadian Press Handout/Peter Ivanyi)
Eventually everyone became silent and the brokers disappeared. News of the deaths began circulating on the news and social media on April 1.
“So we came to know about this tragic incident that my brother and his family died at that time,” the report reads.
Ashwin Chaudhari, speaking from India in an interview this week, blamed the alleged immigration brokers for the tragedy and expressed confidence that they will be brought to justice.
“We are still in shock,” he said. ‘There’s nothing left. We lost our family.’
He added that the family was “very happy” the last time he spoke to his brother.
“They were visiting places. He promised to come back home,” Ashwin said of his brother, adding that the family did not want to go to America.
Casey Oakes, 30, remains missing after the discovery of eight bodies in the St. Lawerence River. (Akwesasne Mohawk Police)
He also echoed what another family member previously told The Canadian Press: that his older brother was terrified of water.
“I don’t know what happened or why,” he said brokenly. “I just do not know.”
His elderly mother collapses several times a day and has not eaten a proper meal since news of her eldest son’s death, he said.
“We can’t think. We can’t function. We just want answers. What happened? Why?”
No fees in Canada
Tyagi said he had spoken to Canadian police once so far, but did not elaborate. No one has been charged in Canada.
A spokesperson for the federal Justice Department said this week that extradition requests are confidential communications between states and that it cannot comment on such a request until the courts make it public.
The Canadian press has not been able to confirm that Sachin Vihol is in Canada. Police forces, including the RCMP, referred questions to the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Department, which this week said they were continuing the investigation and would not comment further.
“(Police) have communicated with the next of kin about the investigation and will provide them with information directly when the investigation is complete or there are important updates that can be shared,” it said in a statement.
Authorities are still searching for Casey Oakes, 30, an Akwesasne resident who was last seen on the night of March 29 driving a boat that was found next to the bodies of the two migrant families.
