Chandigarh, June 2 (IANS) Seven women and one boy from Punjab were reunited with their families, as they landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi Friday.
With them, the total number of rescued women in two weeks rose to 24 under the initiative Mission Hope run by Punjab AAP Rajya Sabha member, Vikram Sahney.
He said the Mission Hope, which was launched last month, is achieving great success and they are committed to bringing every stranded Punjabi girl from Oman.
"Our team is working on a war-footing and have visited Oman twice to liaise with all stakeholders to expedite the rescue operation as soon as possible," he said.
Sahney added he has hired a prestigious immigration law firm in Oman, which is fighting the legal battle to accelerate the process of taking these girls back home.
"Our lawyers are connecting with the sponsors and agents of these women and paying them the requisite penalties to get all the necessary documents for these girls to travel back home."
Sahney informed that the women who came on Saturday are from Jalandhar, Shahkot, Phillaur, Jagraon, Patti, Tarn Taran, Nakodar and Bathinda.
They were stranded after being lured by unscrupulous agents and so-called manpower consultants to go to Oman on false pretexts of employment there.
While one boy from Jalandhar, who was also trapped and was working as a sevadar in a local gurdwara in Muscat, was rescued by paying an overstay penalty.
Sahney, who is also the International President of World Punjabi Organisation, is bearing all the cost of penalties which sponsors are demanding to cancel the unreasonable contracts of these women, their air tickets, etc.
Akso Sahney runs a community kitchen at the shelter home where women from different parts of India are seeking refuge in Muscat.
Sahney said all seven women who were rescued will go to their nearest police stations and file FIRs against their respective agents who duped them and sent them to Oman by making false promises.
The arrested persons have been identified as Zahir Hossain Mollah and Giasuddin Mondal. Both are residents of North 24 Parganas district. During questioning, they admitted that they crossed the border to Bangladesh to get the gold biscuits from one Karim Mondal -- a resident of Jessore district there.
The Chief Minister, who called on Shah at his office here, apprised him about the use of drones for supply of drugs and weapons from Pakistan. Expressing concern, he said this needs to be checked with heavy hand with the support of the Union government. Mann sought intervention of the Home Minister to combat this challenge effectively.
The yatra began in the state on January 5 from Mandar mountain in Banka district. Three legs of the yatra have concluded and the last leg will start after Holi. Earlier, there was a buzz that former party president Rahul Gandhi may come to the state on the last day of the yatra to address a rally.
Calling on Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia here, Dhaliwal apprised him that large number of Punjabis and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card holders had been living in Canada and the US since long, and that during the NRI sammelan organised by the Punjab government in December last, these NRIs sought commencement of these flights.
A police officer said that the fake call centre was involved in duping a man of Rs 1.6 crore by luring him to invest in the stock market, cryptocurrency, and international share market, the police said. The complainant came in touch with the fraudsters through advertisements and pop-ups on Facebook that promised hefty returns by investing in the stock market,
