An Indian couple,Dhruv Patel and Dipika Patel, was kidnapped in Azerbaijan while they were on their way to the US through the ‘donkey route’ via Canada. The couple was lured by agents to take the decision but midway they were beaten up and threatened that their kidneys would be sold if they did not cough up the money that the ‘agents’ demanded. They already paid $71,734, partly in cryptocurrency. After diplomatic intervention from India, the couple was rescued within 24 hours. According to the provided timeline, the couple left their residences on January 30, and traveled to New Delhi stayed at a hotel in New Delhi arranged by the agents. On February 1, they flew from Delhi to Baku on an Azerbaijan Airlines flight. But their journey stopped there as they were allegedly abducted by some unknown people and taken to an abandoned house. The kidnappers contacted the family members through WhatsApp video calls, showing them how Dhruv was being beaten up. They demanded money and threatened to sell both of their kidneys. The family members contacted local politicians in India and through diplomatic intervention named ‘Operation Mahisagar’, the couple was rescued.

What is ‘donkey route’

Donkey route refers to a slow, difficult, and dangerous route to enter North America and eventually the US without any proper visa. The route starts with flying legally to Baku on a tourist visa, then travel to Russia or Georgia (illegally), then move towards Eastern Europe, then Mexico and then finally the US. Last year, 54 men who had entered the US through the ‘donkey route’ were deported to India. A BBC report documented their illegal journey for which they spent millions selling all they had, on the promise of odd jobs in the US — like cooking jobs etc. But they were arrested and spent years in jail before being sent back to India. None of them had a clear idea of the exact routes they took to reach the US but it involved months and they narrated how they took mutiple modes of transport, buses, boats, walking through jungles. .