Departure of Plane Carrying Indians After Being Stopped in France on Suspicion of Human Trafficking

The plane that had been grounded since Thursday in northeastern France, suspected of carrying illegal migrants to Mumbai, departed today with 276 Indians out of 303 people it was carrying. Meanwhile, judicial authorities released two passengers who were detained on suspicion of human trafficking. Additionally, 25 others remain in France as they filed formal asylum requests that will be processed at Charles de Gaulle Airport, according to a statement from the Marne region administration. The French prosecution had relied on an anonymous tip-off indicating that the plane was carrying people who might be victims of human trafficking, which prompted the public prosecutor to call in members of the Air Transport Gendarmerie (BGTA) to intervene and stop the plane on the airport runway.