Punjab man travels 10,000 kilometres, crossed 11 countries to enter US; now deported

In a bid to enter the United States, an Indian man travelled over 10,000 km through 11 countries across central America in a month in 2016.

The man identified as Harpreet Singh first went to Brazil and from there he travelled several places to reach Mexico. He worked and stayed in the US illegally for months before he was caught and deported.

The man who hails from Kapurthala, Punjab, arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, on Saturday, on a United Airlines flight UA82 as a deportee, said an immigration department officer on condition of anonymity.

Police officials said that Singh had confessed that he had sneaked into the US illegally as he wanted US citizenship.

On 20th August 2016, Harpreet Singh took a flight from the Indira Gandhi International Airport to Brazil on a valid passport.

From Bolivia, Singh arrived in Lima, Peru. From there, he reached Costa Rica passing through Ecuador, Columbia and Panama. Then, he entered Honduras and went to Guatemala and finally arrived in Mexico, the officer said.

The final leg of Singh's journey began in Mexico, from where he illegally took a boat into the US.

After reaching the US, Singh managed to work for 15 months at a departmental store in Louisiana before he was apprehended and deported for illegally staying in the US.

Several cases of cheating and forgery have been registered against him in India.