France Frees Passenger Airplane With 303 Indians Grounded Over ‘Human Trafficking’

A passenger plane that taking 303 Indians to Nicaragu.  It was grounded for a human trafficking investigation was by France. It is now permitted to depart from France’s Vatry Airport in Champagne nation on Sunday. Many of the stranded passengers would be flown back to India on Monday, according to a lawyer for the Romanian airline Legend Airlines, as per the reports.

Regional prosecutor Annick Browne told news agency that local officials were completing last-minute paperwork to let some travelers depart the tiny Vatry Airport on Christmas Eve. Since Thursday, all of the travelers—including a toddler who was 21 months old—had been stranded at the airport terminal.

Two passengers detained by France over Human Trafficking

As part of a specific French investigation into possible human trafficking by an organized criminal ring, two passengers were detained. The local government said that several others applied for refuge in France. Eleven of the passengers, according to the prosecution, were unaccompanied children receiving special administrative treatment.

After receiving an anonymous tip that it was carrying possible human trafficking victims, the Airbus A340 headed for Nicaragua and its Indian passengers were detained at Vatry airport, 150 kilometers east of Paris, on Thursday as it landed from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for refueling.

Passengers taken care of

During the investigation, the flight’s occupants were housed at the airport. The local prefecture reported that beds, restrooms, and showers had been erected, and that police had barred the media and other outsiders from accessing the airport.

Prosecutors in Paris claim that 11 unaccompanied youngsters were among the travelers. According to a person familiar with the situation, twelve of the passengers have asked for refuge.

The Indian embassy in Paris announced on X on Saturday that “embassy consular staff” was present to collaborate with French authorities “for the welfare” of passengers who were being detained in order to get a “speedy resolution of the situation.”

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No arrest of crew members

There was no arrest of the thirty crew members. A few were in charge of the Dubai-Vatry leg, while others were supposed to take over for the Managua flight. There are just four aircraft operated by Legend Airlines, per Flightradar24.

The jet was given permission to fly by French prosecutors on Sunday after they had questioned the passengers for two days. According to a statement from the local prefecture, complete approval for the plane’s departure is anticipated on Monday.

Judges, attorneys, and interpreters crowded the terminal on Sunday, transforming the airport into a makeshift courtroom as emergency sessions to decide whether to keep the Indians in seclusion any longer were held.

A disagreement about the process used to bar the Indians from entering the airport caused the proceedings to end in the middle, and the prosecutor stated on Sunday that a decision on the next course of action was anticipated overnight, according to the report.