25 Indians from grounded flight seeking asylum in France will be detained for 8 more days: Report

These 25 passengers were not on the flight carrying 276 mostly Indian passengers which took off for Mumbai on Monday afternoon after four days of being held at the Vatry airport.

The 25 Indian asylum seekers who were part of the flight that was grounded in Châlons-Vatry airport near Paris will be detained for eight more days, according to French sources.

The French Police have submitted to an appellate court. Earlier, the Indian passengers were freed due to procedural irregularities, but the appellate court cancelled their liberation.

French police are now trying to apprehend them, said the sources.

These 25 passengers were not on the flight carrying 276 mostly Indian passengers which took off for Mumbai on Monday afternoon after four days of being held at the Vatry airport.

The 25 people were among 303 passengers who boarded a plane operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines in Dubai last week. They were bound for Nicaragua but a refueling stopover at Vatry airport in northeastern France on December 21 resulted in the plane being grounded for four days after an anonymous tipoff.

Among those staying behind in France were two people questioned by police over suspected people trafficking.

(With PTI inputs)