‘Donkey route’: Man dies in Belarus forest

A 45-year-old autorickshaw driver hailing from Ganna village of Phillaur has reportedly died in a forest of Belarus while heading to Italy on a “donkey” route.

Victim Mahinder Pal Singh had left from the village on December 4 after paying Rs 12 lakh to a travel agent from Jammu.

“For four months, the agent kept on sending my brother on foot from one country to another. They did not provide him with any conveyance or proper food. Though we still are not aware of the cause of his death, we are made to believe that he may have died because of extreme weakness and hunger,” said Mahinder younger brother Dharminder. The family, however, does not rule out murder.

“The last that we talked to him was on March 23 that too on the agent’s phone. After that we kept on calling the agent so that he could put us to my brother, but he kept on asking us for more money. Since we could not talk to him, we became tense. Thus, we contacted the embassies in Russia and Belarus, which told us that Mahinder is no more,” said Dharminder.