Man arrested in Chicago in connection with human smuggling tragedy in Manitoba

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Another man allegedly involved in smuggling an Indian family who froze to death near the U.S.-Manitoba border two years ago has been arrested in the U.S.

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel (who also went by a myriad of aliases, including “Dirty Harry” and “Param Singh,” according to court documents unsealed Thursday) was arrested in Chicago and charged with the transport of an illegal alien and conspiracy to bring an illegal alien to the United States by the United States District Court in the District of Minnesota.

Jagdish Patel, 39, his wife Vaishaliben, 37, and their daughter Vihangi, 11, and three-year-old son Dharmik, froze to death near Emerson, metres from the border, while trying to cross into the U.S. Jan. 19, 2022.

According to the affidavit, Harshkumar Patel (no relation to the Patel family) was allegedly a “co-conspirator” with Steve Shand, who was arrested after border agents found him in northern Minnesota with two Indian nationals in a rented passenger van the same day the Patels were found dead.

The family, who was from the state of Dingucha in western India, suffered severe frostbite after being exposed to a blizzard with temperatures as low as -35 C while walking nearly 12 hours overnight, according to court documents.

Shand, 49, faces two human smuggling charges, but a joint motion filed by prosecutors and his lawyer suggests more charges could be filed. He has pleaded not guilty.

The documents indicate Shand said the two met through Patel’s gambling business and he was recruited to pick up Indian nationals illegally crossing the border into Minnesota.

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In an interview with Homeland Security agents March 9, 2022, Shand said he had taken five trips over the border in Minnesota to transport Indian nationals between December 2021 and January 2022, including the trip that led to his arrest. He said that Patel would pay him to smuggle people over the border, and that he had made about $25,000 before his arrest.

WhatsApp text messages included in the affidavit include Shand asking Patel to “make sure everyone is dressed for the blizzard conditions,” just before 1 a.m. on the same day the Patel family was found and Shand was arrested, and Patel responding “done” immediately after.

At 9:17 a.m. that day, Patel texted Shand “You stuck?” and Shand responded “Still stuck.”

Three men − Yogesh Patel, Bhavesh Patel and Dashrath Chaudhary — have been arrested in India in connection to the case and have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempting culpable homicide, human trafficking and criminal conspiracy.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Malak Abas
Reporter

Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.

Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.