Hotel worker is hit with shock deportation threat
SHOCKED Boat of Garten villagers are trying to save a hotel assistant manager from deportation after he was suddenly arrested by the UK Border Agency and locked up in the controversial Dungavel Detention Centre.
They have contacted local MP and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and local MSP and Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing but at the time of going to press it looked like 28 year old Saurabh Puri would be deported back to India.
It is understood Mr Puri has been the victim of a now jailed lawyer who used false documents and statements to obtain Mr Puri’s visa.
Mr Puri, assistant manager at the Boat of Garten hotel, has lived in the UK for about six years, initially on student-related visas and then on a work visa.
He had worked at the hotel for about four years when he sent an application to renew his visa in August.
Speaking from a mobile phone at Dungavel, Mr Puri, who hails from near Delhi, outlined what happened next.
He said: "I was contacted by the UK Border Agency in mid October and they invited me for an informal chat about my visa in Aberdeen on the morning of Tuesday October 18.
"I took all my details and my passport with me on the train to Aberdeen.
"When I got to the UK Border Agency’s office there I was told to wait to be seen and then a man and a woman suddenly came and told me I was under arrest for breaking immigration laws."
Mr Puri was handcuffed and taken the same day to Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre in South Lanarkshire. His passport and mobile phone were taken off him.
He said: "The UK Border Agency says I broke the law by providing false information on my previous visa but I am not aware of that, unless there has been a problem with the solicitor I had at the time.
"I have been to India several times over the years and to the USA and there have never been any problems getting back into the UK.
"I travelled back to India twice earlier this year after my mother suffered brain injuries when she was hit by a motor cycle. This has all been very traumatic and completely unexpected. I never thought anything like this would happen to me."
Mr Puri now just wants to end his nightmare and return to India as soon as possible.
Local resident Jackie Wilson said: "Everyone who knows Saurabh respects him and he told me he stayed in Boat for another year because he liked the place so much.
"What has happened just seems so appalling. There is no way that Saurabh would have done anything deliberately illegal."
Another local resident, who did not want to be named, said: "I feel desperately sorry for Saurabh. People around here had got to know and like him over the years."
Local residents contacted Danny Alexander’s office for help but staff there said they could not investigate until they were contacted personally by Mr Puri.
However, an office spokesman said yesterday (Tuesday October 25): "Mr Puri has contacted us and we’re looking into his situation. We are trying to get more information from the UK Border Agency."
A spokesperson for the UK Border Agency said: "The UK Border Agency will find and remove those who gain entry to the UK by deceit."
There have been numerous campaigns to close the Dungavel centre down over the years. Campaigners say it is inhumane to "imprison" immigrants like criminals.
