AHMEDABAD: Forget “donkey flight” for the nonce, say hello to bat, ball, and kabootar baazi. The New York leg of T20 World Cup is proving exciting not only for cricket fans but also human traffickers from Gujarat, who are using the game as a means to sneak people into the US.
These smugglers facilitate their clients’ entry into the US by posing them as cricketers.The clients are signed up with local cricket clubs and participate in small-time tournaments in India to secure sponsorships from US-based clubs. This enables them to obtain six-month sports visas. Once in the US, they vanish and live there illegally.
A source said on Tuesday that this method has replaced previous schemes where people entered the US with artist visas by pretending to be Bollywood or television actors. Due to tighter immigration rules, smugglers have shifted to using cricket as their new strategy.
A man from Kalol successfully used this scheme. “I played cricket professionally from an academy in Gandhinagar, participated in leagues organised by a religious group here, and got entry into the US to play a cricket league,” he said. He and his brother have been living illegally in the US for eight months.
Another case involved Monty Patel of Gandhinagar, who vanished after entering the US last Sept. Similarly, Ashish Patel of Navsari succeeded after multiple failed attempts. He initially entered the US seven years ago as a TV serial crew member but had to return. After another failed attempt 3 years ago, he finally managed to enter the US last year by posing as a cricketer for New Jersey tournament.
An Ahmedabad police crime branch officer acknowledged the trend, but said no legal action can be taken in India as the crimes occur on foreign soil. “No case of this nature has been officially reported. But these do violate visa norms,” Gujarat DGP Vikas Sahay said.
This racket surfaced about five years ago when people from Gujarat were sent to countries like Russia, where cricket was gaining popularity. About 18 months ago, traffickers began targeting the US following the rising popularity of cricket, particularly in North and South Carolina, which have cricket clubs.