Jan 22, 2022: Two out of a group seven Indian nationals who are in the US illegally and arrested near the US-Canada border have suffered serious injuries from “suspected frostbite” due to which for one woman, partial amputation of the hand will be necessary.
According to court documents, Steve Shand, a 47-year-old U.S. citizen, was charged Thursday in the U.S. District Court for Minnesota with human trafficking. Shand, a “suspected smuggler of undocumented foreign nationals”, was arrested on January 19 on charges of carrying two Indian nationals near the US-Canada border who were in the United States illegally.
The two Indian nationals have been identified as ‘SP’ and ‘YP’ in the complaint.
The complaint also states that five Indian nationals “illegally present” in the United States were also identified and arrested around the time Shand was arrested.
“Six of the seven foreign nationals arrested were at the Pembina Border Patrol Station in North Dakota” and “one of the foreign nationals was hospitalized with a cold injuries.”
The complaint also states that two of the seven Indian nationals arrested had “serious injuries.”
“A man, an adult, and a girl were taken to hospital with a suspected cold injury. The man was later released from the hospital, but the woman was taken to a major hospital for the rest of her life and became severely ill. It will be necessary to amputate one arm due to the cold weather conditions. The woman also stopped breathing several times while being taken through the border patrol. “
In a separate incident, a family of four Indian nationals, including an infant, froze to death along the US-Canada border in what authorities believe was a failed crossing attempt during a freezing blizzard.
Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy, Commanding Officer of the Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said at a press conference that RCMP officers discovered the bodies of three individuals – an adult male, adult female and an infant – on the Canadian side of the border.
Fearing there may be additional victims, officers continued their search and located the body of another male, believed at this time to be a teen.
The five Indian nationals told authorities that they had walked across the border expecting to be picked up by someone.
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