Felt 'helpless and heartbroken', says man who filmed video of handcuffed Indian in US

New York, Jun 10 (PTI) An Indian-American social entrepreneur, who filmed a video of a young Indian man being "handcuffed, crying and treated like a criminal" at a US airport, has said that he felt "helpless and heartbroken" over what he described as a "human tragedy." The video, posted on social media by Kunal Jain, showed the Indian man handcuffed and pinned to the ground by 2-3 Port Port Authority Police officers at Newark Liberty International Airport.

In a series of posts on X, Jain said that the Indian Embassy in the US needs to help the man.  "I witnessed a young Indian student being deported from Newark Airport last night - handcuffed, crying, treated like a criminal. He came chasing dreams, not causing harm. As an NRI, I felt helpless and heartbroken. This is a human tragedy," Jain posted on X on Sunday.

He also tagged the Embassy of India in the post.

"This poor guy was speaking in Haryanvi language. I could recognise his accent where he was saying "Main pagal nahi hun, ye log mujhe pagal sabit karne me lage huye hain" (I’m not insane. These people are trying to prove that I’m insane),” Jain said.

Jain added “This poor kid's parent won’t know what’s happening to him.  @IndianEmbassyUS @DrSJaishankar he was to be boarded last night in the same flight with me but he never got boarded. Someone needs to find out what’s going on with him at New Jersey authorities. I found him disoriented.” His posts went viral, with hundreds of people re-posting and commenting on them.

The Consulate General of India here said it is in touch with local authorities after the video surfaced online.

“We have come across social media posts claiming that an Indian national is facing difficulties at Newark Liberty International Airport. We are in touch with local authorities in this regard,” the Indian Consulate said in a post on X.

“The Consulate remains ever committed to the welfare of Indian Nationals,” it said.

Jain said in a post that these young people arrive in the US and for some reason, they are unable to explain the purpose of their visit to the immigration authorities and are sent back on the same day tied up like criminals.

Jain claimed that every day there are 3-4 such cases that are coming to light.  "I'm still curious to know what happened to this kid. Was he ever made to his parents?” Jain asked in another post.

"There can be nothing better than this child being reunited with his parents. This is my wish," he added. PTI YAS ZH ZH