‘Kidnapped, Beaten’: Three Punjab Men Missing in Iran After Taking ‘Dunki’ Route

Jalandhar: Three youths from Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Sangrur districts of Punjab, who started from their villages to reach Australia via a ‘dunki’ route, were allegedly kidnapped by Pakistan-based agents at Tehran airport in Iran, their families have alleged.

The three youths, namely Jaspal Singh, Amritpal Singh and Husanpreet Singh, went missing on May 1, 2025, the very day they reached Iran. As per their families, the youths last spoke to their sons around 12 days ago, after which they lost contact with them. 

The Wire has learnt that the youths sustained deep cuts on their bodies and were beaten up mercilessly after they were held captive by the alleged Pakistani donkers. It was learnt that the alleged Pakistani donkers demanded Rs 18 lakh each from the three youths in ransom to release them. 

An FIR under Sections 143 (trafficking of a person), 318 (4) (cheating), 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Section 13 of the Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act, 2014, has been registered against Dheeraj Atwal, Kamal Atwal and Saavita Soya, all three Hoshiarpur based travel agents, based on complaints by the families of the youths at their respective districts. 

The travel agents allegedly ran away after learning about the FIR, informing the victims’ families that they were going to Iran to trace the youths, the families informed.

The Embassy of India in Tehran, Iran, issued an official statement on X stating: “Family members of 3 Indian citizens have informed the Embassy of India that their relatives are missing after having travelled to Iran. The Embassy has strongly taken up this matter with the Iranian authorities, and requested that the missing Indians should be urgently traced and their safety should be ensured. We are also keeping the family members regularly updated on the efforts being made by the Embassy.”

Iran has a visa-free policy for up to 15 days for Indians for tourism purposes only, making it a possible pathway for a ‘dunki’ route – an illegal immigration method, often involving dangerous routes, facilitated by agents. 

Iran is surrounded by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia. 

The news of Punjabis trying to reach a western country via yet another dunki route has come barely three months after youths from Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat were deported from the US – a news that hit the international headlines. 

Over 400 Indians have been deported from the US in the past three months beginning February 5, 2025, when the first US deportees flight landed at Amritsar.

‘Demanded additional Rs 18 lakh each’

Speaking to The Wire, Ashok Kumar, the brother of Jaspal Singh from Langroya village in Nawanshahr district, said that his brother and the two other youths were kidnapped by the Pakistan-based donkers, soon after they landed at Tehran airport in Iran on May 1, 2025. 

“The moment they left the airport, the donkers approached the youths holding their photographs, confirming their identity. However, after they sat in the car and reached mid-way, the donkers told them that they had been kidnapped”, he said. 

He said that they received the first call from the donkers on May 1, 2025, during which his brother informed the family that he, along with the other two youths, had been kidnapped. 

“My brother had earlier told us to remain awake at around 2 AM (IST) on May 1, 2025, that was the time when the Pakistani donkers made a video call and demanded an additional Rs 18 lakh each. We had already paid Rs 18 lakh to send our brother to Australia,” he added.

As per Kumar, who works as a labourer, the family arranged Rs 18 lakh to send Jaspal Singh to Australia by borrowing money from relatives and friends. 

“We remained in touch with Jaspal till May 11, 2025, after which we lost contact with them. The Pakistani donkers would make the youths speak to us while they were held captive, naked with deep cuts on their bodies and beaten up mercilessly. The youths kept pleading to save them, else the Pakistani donkers would kill them,” he said, crying. 

He said that the donkers also gave them their Pakistani bank accounts and kept forcing them to pay the amount. “I told them that we were left with no money and that it was impossible to make any payment from India to Pakistan. However, they did not listen and kept torturing our sons”, he added. 

Similarly, Gurdeep Kaur, the mother of Amritpal Singh from Bhogowal Luddan village of Hoshiarpur, told The Wire that her son went to Dubai on April 25, 2025, from where he reached Iran. 

“While Jaspal reached Dubai on April 1, the other two boys joined him later. My son, including the other two youths, remained in touch with us through video calls only during which the Pakistani donkers would beat them up. The youths would plead to save them from the donkers from the clutches of the donkers,” she said. 

She said that 12 days had passed since they spoke to the youths, hoping that the Indian government’s intervention would save their lives.

Like many others, Gurdeep Kaur too had been making ends meet by tailoring clothes, and fell prey to the dangerous nexus of fake travel agents, who, despite claims by the Punjab and the Union governments, have been playing with the lives of gullible youths.

Meanwhile, Husanpreet’s family from Dhuri in Sangrur made a fervent appeal to the Union government to help bring their son safely back home. The family also maintained that they remained in touch with their son for around 10 days, after which they did not receive any call or message. 

The family of Amritpal Singh have also approached Hoshiarpur MP, Raj Kumar Chabbewal and Punjab NRI affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, urging them to expedite the early release of their son.

Jaspal and Husanpreet’s family, too, have met the local leaders asking them to save their sons from this crisis.

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