Human smugglers pressured the Indian and Romanian families into a boat in bad weather the night they died trying to cross the St. Lawrence River, according to a police complaint filed in India that led to charges against three Indian nationals.
The bodies of the two families, totalling six adults and two children, were pulled from the St. Lawrence River on March 30 and 31 near the Kanien’kehá:ka community of Akwesasne after a failed human smuggling attempt to take them into the U.S.
Dinesh Singh Chauhan, the superintendent of police for the Mehsana district in the western Indian state of Gujarat, on Thursday announced the charges against two local individuals and a third who may live in in Canada.
The trio, who have not yet been arrested, are charged under four sections of the Indian Penal Code, including causing death by negligence, criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonesty to induce delivery of property and criminal conspiracy, according to a copy of the police complaint that triggered the charges.
The police complaint lays out the details of the final steps in the Indian family’s journey. It alleges the Indian brokers first pitched and then painted a false image of the trip by suggesting the family would be taking a cab across the border before telling them they needed to use a boat at the last moment.
The complaint, obtained by CBC News, also alleged that the Indian and Romanian families were pressured into boarding a boat that kept breaking down amid rough weather.
The charges in India are the first related to the St. Lawrence River deaths and appear to target the alleged brokers who arranged the fatal trip.
$100K to cross, complaint alleges
The complaint with Mehsana district police was filed by Ashvinbhai Galalbhai Chaudhary, the younger brother of Pravinbhai Veljibhai Chaudhary, who boarded the boat along with his wife, Dakshaben, and two children, son Mitkumar and daughter Vidhiben. They all hailed from the Mehsana district.
Ashvinbhai Chaudhary, 40, stated he was in touch with the family over cell phone and WhatsApp messenger up to the very last moment before they launched out into the water.
He said Vidhiben, his niece, sent him a text message on March 29 around 10 p.m. ET, while she sat on the boat.
“Their boat was not working every now and then and the weather was very bad. After that, there was no contact with them,” Ashvinbhai Chaudhary stated in the complaint translated by CBC News from Gujarati to English.
Chaudhary alleged in the police complaint that his brother was visiting Canada in March with the family when he received a call from a man they both knew named Nikulsinh Shamaruji Vihol , who ran a local firm in Mehsana called Bajaj Finance. Shamaruji told his brother that he could get him into the U.S. for about $100,000 Cdn.
“He [Nikulsinh Vihol] does this kind of work,” Ashvinbhai Chaudhary said, according to the police complaint.
Pravinbha Chaudhary then asked his brother to help finance the trip. The younger Chaudhary then gathered funds through friends, family and loans. He allegedly handed off the money on a road near a local temple to Nikulsinh Vihol and another man named Arjunsinh Ranjitsinh Chavada, according to the police complaint.
Chavada was the brother-in-law of Sachin Gajendrasinh Vihol, who allegedly had been living in Canada for five years and was their in-country contact, according to the complaint.
After the payment, Sachin Vihol allegedly arranged for Pravinbha Chaudhary and his family to fly from Winnipeg to Montreal. Then, they were moved around to several places over the next six to seven days, from a motel and to locations where there was no water for showers and little food, according to the complaint. All the while, the alleged smugglers told the Chaudharys that it wasn’t yet safe to cross.
Sachin Vihol kept insisting that they would cross the border by taxi, but they were waiting for the right moment. Then, the plan changed. Sachin Vihol told the family they would now be taking a short boat ride — no more than five to seven minutes, the complaint alleged.
WATCH | The history of smuggling on the St. Lawrence River:
The St. Lawrence River has been a blessing and a curse for the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne, which straddles the Canada-U.S. border. From tobacco to alcohol and now humans, the river has been a smuggling route for generations. CBC’s Jorge Barrera shares details of the waterway’s role in the community.
‘Cajoled’ onto a boat in a storm
On the day of departure, a car came to pick up the Chaudhary family. The Romanian family was also in the vehicle. The complaint alleged that the Romanian family wanted to cancel because the weather was stormy that evening.
Phone calls sparked back and forth between Pravinbha Chaudhary and his brother. Ashvinbhai Chaudray told Nikulsinh Vihol he didn’t want his brother to go on the boat.
“After about an hour, I got a phone call from my brother. He said that [Sachin Vihol] has told them that they had to go on that very day and if they didn’t go on that particular day, there will be a problem,” stated Ashvinbhai Chaudhary in the complaint.
“They were cajoled and talked to so that they have that confidence and were prepared to reach the U.S.A. My brother trusted them and was prepared to ride in the boat to cross the river.”
That was the last time Chaudhary would speak to his brother.
According to the complaint, Chauhary phoned Nikulsinh Vihol after his brother failed to check in and was told to wait. He was then told that his brother and the family had been arrested by U.S. authorities after crossing the river and entering America. Then, Nikulsinh Vihol went dark.
Ashvinbhai Chaudhary found out on April 1, through social media and the news, that his family had died in the river, the complaint said.
Nikulsinh Shamaruji Vihol, Sachin Gajendrasinh Vihol and Arjunsinh Ranjitsinh Chavada are facing charges by Indian police. None of the men are in custody.
CBC News has not independently verified if there is someone named Sachin Gajendrasinh Vihol living in Canada who might have been involved.
No one has yet been charged in Canada.
The Canadian investigation into deaths is currently led by Akwesasne Mohawk Police. The eight family members boarded a boat on Cornwall Island, which is part of Akwesasne territory. They are believed to have launched from the southeastern portion of the island.
Police continue to search for 30-year-old Akwesasne resident Casey Oakes, who was last seen casting off on a light blue boat on the evening of March 29.
Multiple agencies, including the RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police and Sûreté du Quebec, are involved in the ongoing investigation. Homeland Security Investigations has launched a parallel probe in the U.S.
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