Indian police arrest 6 in connection with Canadian border deaths

Police in a western state in India have begun delving deeper into the deaths of four people whose bodies were found in Manitoba just short of the Canada-U. S. border.

Ashish Bhatia, director general of police in Gujarat, says investigators are trying to determine whether there was a travel agent in India who helped the group.

"It's very clear that these people went to Canada and they were illegally trying to enter the U.S.A., so … we are looking into that," Bhatia said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Indian police official A.K. Jhala told Reuters they have detained six people who were running a travel and tourism company in the state.

"We are now trying to nab the human traffickers who managed to send this family and others abroad via illegal channels," said Jhala, in Gandhinagar, the state capital.

RCMP found the bodies of a man, a woman, a teen and a baby last week near Emerson, Man. Police believe they had tried to cross into the United States during a heavy snowstorm in freezing temperatures.

Investigators have said they believe the deaths are linked to human smuggling.

Police said seven people who were initially part of the same group did make it across the border. Two were found in a van with a man who now faces charges. The others were picked up by border patrol officers a short distance away.

Steve Shand of Deltona, Fla., faces U.S. charges of transporting or attempting to transport illegal aliens. He was released from custody on Monday.

Bhatia said Indian authorities are aware that people leaving for other countries don't always have proper documents to enter the United States.

"This has been going on [for] years. Legally people go; illegally also people go."

Two immigration experts and an investigator want anyone considering illegal channels to understand the harsh reality of human smuggling.

"A lot of smugglers will give the false pretence that it's safe and easy to cross unlawfully," said Jamie Holt, acting special agent in charge of U.S. Homeland Security investigations into the illegal movement of people.

"The smugglers have a very specific way of doing things. It's a business for them. It's about money, not about people."