‘Dirty Harry’ from the Gujarat people smuggling case apprehended in US

AHMEDABAD: Harshkumar Patel, also known as “Dirty Harry,” was taken into custody by US police in Chicago. He is a major suspect in the Dingucha human smuggling case in Gujarat, where four members of a family perished in January 2022 while attempting to enter the US illegally from Canada.

The Fifth Estate feature on Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) News said that Harshkumar was detained at the Chicago airport. The Gujarati community in the US and Canada was rocked by the murders of 39-year-old Jagdish Patel, his wife Vaishali, 37, their daughter Vihangi, 11, and their son Dharmik, 3. The Dingucha family was from the vicinity of Gandhinagar.
It is said that Harshkumar had communication with Steve Shand, a van that was seized by US officials on the fatal evening of January 19, 2022. Shand is charged with smuggling seven people from Gujarat into the United States without authorization, four of them died close to the border.
Along with cash transactions, investigators have discovered WhatsApp chats between Harshkumar and Shand. The evidence and the arrest are seen as significant steps in exposing the US component of the global people smuggling network from Gujarat that involved individuals who were driven to pursue their lethal American ambitions.
The roles played in the same case by individuals such as Bittu Singh, also known as Paji, in the US and Fenil Patel in Canada have previously been emphasized by the authorities.
The case’s next hearing is set for February 28, but according to the CBC story, it could be moved to Minnesota. In Minnesota, Shand’s jury trial is scheduled to start in March as well. Along with Harry Patel, Param Singh, Haresh Patel, and Hareshkumar Singh Patel, Harshkumar also goes by these names.
According to court records from Minnesota, Harshkumar gave Shand the itinerary for the illegal immigrants who would be transported from the Canadian border between Emerson, Winnipeg, and Pembina, North Dakota, in the US.
According to the records, Shand assisted Harshkumar in five different instances between December 2021 and January 2022.