The 27 Indians who stayed back in France seeking asylum have now been freed, news agency PTI quoted local French media reports. The batch of Indians did not take the flight carrying 276 mostly Indian passengers which took off for Mumbai on Monday afternoon, after four days of being held at Chalons-Vatry airport near Paris on suspicion of human trafficking.
According to the report, a newspaper quoted prosecutors as saying that a local judge had ordered the release of all Indians on “formal grounds”.
The judge reportedly also observed that the head of the border police at France’s main Charles De Gaulle airport “had not referred the case to him” within the timeframe stipulated by law.
“They are therefore free to do as they please, even if they are in an irregular situation on French territory,” the Bobigny public prosecutor’s office told the French newspaper.
The 27 passengers were reportedly freed on Tuesday and five of them were taken into care of child welfare services, being minors.
They were among the 303 passengers who had boarded a plane operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines in Dubai last week.
They were bound for Nicaragua but a refuelling stopover at Vatry airport in northeastern France on December 21 resulted in the plane being grounded for four days after an anonymous tip-off.
Among those staying behind in France were two people questioned by police over suspected people trafficking.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the entire case will be taken up by the Anti-Human Trafficking Cellin collaboration with Mumbai Police.
The officials have sought a detailed report of airport security personnel’s interrogation of Indian passengers who returned on the said flight during the early hours of Tuesday.