In a bid to enter the United States (US), an Indian man travelled over 10,000 km through 11 countries across central America in a month in 2016.

The man identified as Harpreet Singh first went to Brazil and from there he travelled several places to reach Mexico. He worked and stayed in the US illegally for months before he was caught and deported.

The man who hails from Kaputhala, Punjab, arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, on Saturday, on a United Airlines flight UA82 as a deportee, said an immigration department officer on condition of anonymity.

He was then handed over to the Delhi Police, reports the Hindustan Times . 

Narrating his journey to reach the US, the officer said, "Singh first took flight ET887 from the IGI Airport to Brazil on August 20, 2016, on a valid passport.

Thereafter, he started his illegal journey to the US. After arriving in Brazil, Singh went to Bolivia where he contacted some associates of his travel agent, back in his hometown in Punjab. There he sought assistance to travel by road, north to the US." 

From Bolivia, Singh arrived in Lima, Peru, and managed to reach Costa Rica passing through Ecuador, Columbia, and Panama. Then he entered Honduras and then Guatemala, before finally arriving in Mexico, the officer added. "He then managed to reach the US illegally on a boat. He took more than a month to complete this journey," he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) Sanjay Bhatia said, "En-route to the US, Singh's belongings and his original passport were taken away by local miscreants.

He then approached his agent identified as Rana, a resident of Jalandhar in Punjab, who arranged a fake Indian passport for him." When Singh finally reached the US, he worked for 15 months at a department store in a town in Louisiana before he was deported for staying illegally, Bhatia added.

A case under sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged document or electronic record as genuine) and passport act, under Indian Penal Code has been registered against Singh.