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Illegal immigrants were headed for Britain

Sanjay Suri
India Abroad Correspondent in London

The illegal Indian immigrants caught in Slovakia were headed for Britain, where the grass still seems greener from the other side.

Three illegal immigrants were detained. Police in Slovakia and the Czech Republic are still searching for 17 others, who either escaped or drowned while crossing the swollen Morava river.

Senior officials said it was not clear how many of the group of 20 were Indian. But one of the three men caught is reported to be Indian.

Britain is usually the destination for immigration gangs, which smuggle in people through circuitous routes that invariably pass through eastern Europe. The market rate to smuggle in a person is Rs 500,000 to Rs 700,000 (£10,000 to 15,000).

The business continues to boom despite the danger of death and arrest.

The danger of getting caught is rising as the police invest more in intelligence to detect illegal immigrants.

In March this year, the police in Britain busted a big racket in illegal immigration. The gang brought Gujaratis into Britain and provided them forged British passports, birth certificates and driving licences.

The police recovered 151 stolen passports, birth certificates, driving licences and forgery equipment from a house in Leicester, about 100 miles north of London.

"We cannot put a figure on the number of illegal immigrants involved, but we believe it is in thousands," Detective Inspector Bob White, who led the 24-member team, said.

The arrested men in this case included Pravin Patel, 45, a 'forger' who allegedly played a leading role in the illegal enterprise along with Mohammed Garja, 37, and Hari Krishna Patel, 31, of Wembley, London.

Each was jailed for five years.

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