New Delhi [India], December 19 : The Enforcement Directorate's probe into the notorious 'donkey' or 'dunki' route case has unearthed crucial evidence, revealing that a key Haryana-based player allegedly took property documents from candidates as collateral for payments to facilitate illegal travel to the US via Mexico.
ED's findings are based on a raid conducted on December 18 at 13 locations in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi by its Jalandhar unit teams.
In the raid, the ED officials said, cash of Rs 4.62 crore, silver 313 kg and Gold bullions of 6 kg totalling to amount 19.13 crore has been recovered and seized from the premises of a Delhi based travel agent.
As per the agency officials, privy to the development in the case, "Chat with other involved persons and other incriminating evidence regarding dunkey business has been found."
"From premises of a key donkey player in Haryana, records and documents related to donkey business has been found. It has been revealed that he used to keep property documents of candidates as surety for payment of amount for sending USA through Mexico donkey route," the ED officials told ANI, adding "some incriminating documents and mobile have also been recovered from the premises of other persons covered under search operations."
The raids were conducted covering the premises of "second and third layer persons involved in the chain" of the 'donkey route' syndicate.
ED's Jalandhar zonal office teams carried out the searches at 13 locations based on certain inputs in the case in which the agency initiated investigation on the basis of various First Information Reports (FIRs) registered related to 330 Indians deported by the USA through military cargo plane in February 2025.
During ED investigation it was found that the deported Indians were sent to the USA through donkey route and were facilitated by complex web of persons involved in chain like travel agents middlemen, donkers, overseas associates, hawala operators, lodging and other logistics arrangement providers.
"Earlier two searches conducted by the ED and other gathered evidences surfaced during investigation revealed name of second and third layer persons involved in the chain," said the officials.
Persons and entities covered in the searches were Richi Travels Jalandhar, Tarun Khosla Delhi and Balwan Sharma of Panipat.
Recently, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 5.41 crore related to persons who generated proceeds of crime by sending abroad illegally through donki route. ED's Jalandhar zonal office had attached these properties derived out or equivalent to the Proceeds of Crime generated by various agents namely Shubham Sharma, Jagjit Singh and Surmukh Singh, who were involved in sending persons to USA illegally through the 'dunky' route.
The attached properties include agricultural land, residential premises, business premises and bank accounts in the names of such agents and their family members.
ED initiated investigation on the basis of various FIRs registered by Punjab Police and Haryana Police under various sections of BNS 2023 (erstwhile IPC 1860) and Immigration Act, 1983 related to deportation of 330 Indian Nationals to India on military cargo planes in February 2025 by the USA government as those 330 persons entered USA illegally.
ED investigation revealed that "these 'agents' and their associates used to cheat gullible people by luring them under the pretext of sending them to the USA legally and charged hefty amounts for this." "However, subsequently they used to send people via dangerous routes through various South American countries and they were made to cross over into the USA illegally through the USA-Mexico border," said the agency.
"Throughout the way, people were tortured, extorted for even more money and made to commit illegal acts. These 'agents' and their associates generated proceeds of crime by cheating various persons on false pretexts and obtaining large sums from them."
Previously, ED conducted searches in this case on July 9, 2025 and July 11, 2025 at 19 locations under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, wherein incriminating documents and materials were found and recovered including bogus immigration stamp, bogus visa stamp, records and digital devices.