Monday, 21 December 2015

Air India offloads 19 US-bound students

Air India's move comes amid reports that 14 Indian students who travelled to the US last week were deported allegedly after being kept in jail in San Francisco.


Air India today barred 19 US-bound students from boarding a flight saying the universities in which they had taken admission were under scrutiny.
  
The students were travelling from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad to San Francisco on Sunday night. An official of the national carrier said that two San Francisco-based universities were currently under the scanner of the US government.

"In the past, we have witnessed that students who secured admission in those institutions have been deported to India as soon as they land there. To avoid embarrassment to them and save their money, we prevented them from boarding the flight," an official said.

Air India's move comes amid reports that 14 Indian students who travelled to the US last week were deported allegedly after being kept in jail in San Francisco. The students claimed they were also quizzed by the FBI during their detention.

"So far, 14 students who travelled on Air India flights to San Francisco have been deported. Students travel on a one-way ticket to the US and, in the event of deportation, incur huge expenditure to buy a ticket back to India on first available service. Further, seats are often not available on any airlines to travel back," a statement released by Air India said.

Meanwhile, one of the universities, which was said to be under US government's probe, called the reports of being blacklisted "absolutely false" on their school website. - indiatoday

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