“Gurwinder was booked in two FIRs for alleged snatching and theft. He got bail in 2022, but we are verifying if he is wanted in any other case,” inspector Gurpreet Singh, SHO, Meharban police station, said. Gurwinder was yet to be released by local police until the filing of this report.

Speaking to The Indian Express, his wife Hardeep Kaur said: “My husband was booked in false police cases in 2021 and 2022, as he was a member of the pro-Khalistan party Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). He supported SAD(A) chief. Simranjit Singh Mann. He later got bail in both cases.”

According to Gurwinder’s statement to the authorities after landing at Amritsar airport, he had reached the US border through three agents based in Bathinda, Delhi, and Dubai, and paid them Rs 45 lakh.

Hardeep said: “After leaving home in October 2024, Gurwinder first landed in Guyana, and finally crossed the Mexico-US border on January 25. Following this, the authorities detained him… My husband had disputes with his father and elder brother; he wanted to start a business. After he demanded his share, my father-in-law took a loan of Rs 45 lakh. Then a local agent referred us to his colleague based in Bathinda, who had promised that my husband will reach the US within a few days. He, however, reached the border after over three months — my husband was en route by the time Donald Trump took over as the US President. The agent had refused to return the money, so we had no option but to take the risk.”

“When we had asked the agent what will happen if Trump starts deporting immigrants, he told us not to worry. The agent said that earlier too, during Trump’s previous presidential term, things went as usual. We never knew that Trump would be this harsh on immigrants, and deport them. We have no idea what lies ahead now,” Hardeep told The Indian Express.