Four Indian-origin men convicted of smuggling people to the UK

A trial at the Reading Crown Court has found five men guilty of smuggling 35 Afghans into the UK. All of them received have been sent to prison after two years of investigation.

The men built coffin-like hides inside furniture and wardrobes where they locked people in with screws, making it impossible for them to get out and putting their lives at risk. The people discovered by the authorities included a 2-year-old toddler.

Between August and October 2019, Paramjeet Singh Baweja, 50, and Viljit Singh Khurana, 45 were involved in smuggling people on six separate occasions. They were in communication with the other two perpetrators, Harmohan Singh, 41, and Manmohan Singh Wadhwa, 57 who provided updates to them and escorted vans and drivers. The fifth man who was caught is Romanian national, Dumitru Bacelan, 29, who was found to be the recruiter and organiser of vehicles to facilitate the crime.

The Home Office had said that since 2020, there have been over 140 criminals who were convicted of smuggling people into the UK through inhumane means, which totals to about 400 years in prosecutions.