It landed at Mumbai’s international airport after a nearly nine-hour flight, just after 4am local time on Tuesday, aviation tracking website Flightradar24 showed.
India unveils first-ever comprehensive draft law on human trafficking
India unveils first-ever comprehensive draft law on human trafficking
The French authorities are continuing to investigate the case for violation of immigration laws, but no longer for potential people trafficking, judicial sources said.
The suspects’ release came because “the investigating judge was able to resist media pressure in this case”, said their lawyer, Salome Cohen. The pair have received an expulsion order from France, their lawyers said.
The other 25 people have sought asylum in France, the prefecture said. Five of them are minors, it said, updating an earlier figure of two. Their applications would be processed at Charles-de-Gaulle airport.
After questioning the passengers for two days, French prosecutors on Sunday gave the go-ahead for the plane to leave.
A source close to the inquiry said that the Indians were likely to have been workers in the United Arab Emirates who had been bound for Nicaragua as a jumping off spot for the United States or Canada.
The passengers of the flight, operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines, were put up at the airport during the investigation.
Beds, toilets and showers were installed, the local prefecture said, while police have prevented press and outsiders from entering the airport.
Chinese man in racist video scandal charged with human trafficking in Malawi
Chinese man in racist video scandal charged with human trafficking in Malawi
The passengers included 11 unaccompanied minors, according to Paris prosecutors.
The Indian embassy in Paris posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday that it was grateful for the “quick resolution” of the incident.
The authorisation for the plane to leave came after a French court ruled that any further detention of three of the passengers would be illegal.
But Genevieve Colas, coordinator at the Secours Catholique-Caritas association, said the release of the plane had “surprised” her. “What if they really are victims of people trafficking?” she asked. “Then it wouldn’t be right to just let them take off to another country.”
The 30 crew members were not detained. Some handled the Dubai-Vatry leg and others were to take over for the flight to Managua. According to Flightradar24, Legend Airlines has just four planes.