Punjabi youth missing after 'donkey route' boat capsizes in English Channel

Jalandhar: A 29-year-old man from Jalandhar, who was part of a group of around 80 illegal immigrants travelling on a boat over the English Channel from France to England, went missing after the boat capsized on Oct 1.

The family of misisng youth Arvinder Singh (29), who is from Bhatnoora Lubana village, was informed about the incident by another youth from Chohana village of Kapurthala district, who was also part of the group. "He went to Portugal on May 18 on a work permit and was supposed to stay there. His biometrics were also taken on Sept 5. But it seems he met a few other youths, and they planned to reach the UK via the ‘donkey route'. First, they planned to travel through a truck, but the truck operator refused to take them along due to strictness," said his younger brother, Ashwinder Singh.

"Then they planned to travel via boat, and when he told us about it, we advised against it. He spoke to us last on Sept 29. At that time, he did not tell us anything about his plan to travel through a boat. We learnt about the incident on Oct 2," he said.

"A youth from Chohana village called to inform us there were five Punjabi youths among around 80 persons on the boat. He told us they were informed that all those travelling in the boat were rescued, but Arvinder was missing. Till now, there is no information about him," Ashwinder told TOI on Sunday night.

"Two youths from Chohana, one from Bhoolpur in Kapurthala, and another from Jalandhar were part of this group," he said.

Adampur MLA Sukhwinder Singh Kotli said he would coordinate with the state govt and Centre to seek their help.