France Allows Detained Plane with Indian Passengers to Fly Out

A French court on Sunday allowed a plane carrying several Indian passengers detained near Paris due to suspected human trafficking to leave France on Monday. But it is not clear whether the plane will return to India or fly to any other destination.

The plane that was detained in France was a Nicaragua-bound charter plane with 303 passengers. The passengers were mostly Indians with at least 11 unaccompanied minors.

Following an anonymous tip-off about the possibility of human trafficking, the charter plane was grounded at the Vatry airport in France, when it arrived from Dubai for refuelling.

A French court on Sunday allowed the Airbus A340 to leave France after interrogating the passengers for two days, the local prefecture said in a statement. The statement did not mention what will be their destination.

Francois Procureur, head of the local bar association, said at a press conference that the passengers would be flown to India. But Indian authorities have not confirmed it.

The Indians in the plane were likely workers in UAE who were heading for Nicaragua on their way to the US or Canada, news agency AFP reported.