Ahmedabad, Feb 6: Jayantibhai Patel, a resident of Gujarat’s Vadodara district, could not hold back his emotions after seeing his daughter, who was deported from the US, reaching home safe.
Khushbu Patel (29), a native of Luna village in Padra taluka of Vadodara district, was among the 104 Indians deported from the US for illegal immigration.
She too was handcuffed during the journey aboard a US military aircraft which landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, her brother said. A plane carrying her and 32 other deportees from Amritsar to Gujarat reached the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday morning.
After their arrival, they were transported to their native places in Gujarat in police vehicles.
Khushbu was first taken to the Padra police station for primary questioning and then the police took her to her residence at Luna, said an official.
Khushbu, like other deportees, did not speak to the media.
“She was handcuffed during the journey (from the US) to Amritsar. She had gone to the US on tourist visa,” her brother Varun told reporters.
“She was deported for not having some documents. We don’t know what route she had taken to reach the US. She is not in a position to speak now because of the 36-hour journey,” he said.
Her father Jayantibhai Patel cried after seeing his daughter back home. But he, too, claimed ignorance about how she landed in the US.
“I was under enormous stress. Now I am extremely happy that she has come back safely. Our Government has helped us in every way. I have no idea how she reached the US and what exactly happened to her there,” he said.
All other deportees and their family members refused to talk to the media.
Most of the 33 immigrants from Gujarat belong to Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Patan, Vadodara and Kheda districts, sources said.
A family of four from Manund village in Patan district was among the deportees. They were taken to their village by Patan district police.
But their house in the village remained locked.
“They were brought here by the local police in the morning, but they went somewhere else instead of going to their house. The owner of the house has also gone elsewhere. Maybe they are nervous and do not want to face the media at this point,” said Dixit Patel, a neighbour. (PTI)
