A US military plane carrying 119 Indian nationals who had entered the United States illegally landed in Amritsar on Saturday. This is the second such arrival in 10 days, as part of the Donald Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The first round of deportations occurred on February 5, when a US military plane transported 104 Indians to Amritsar. A third plane with 157 deportees is expected to land in Amritsar on Sunday.

The C-17 Globemaster aircraft landed at the Amritsar International Airport close to 11:40 pm on Saturday. Among the 119, 67 are from Punjab, 33 are from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

The deportees include four women and two minors, including a six-year-old girl. Most of the deportees are in the age group of 18 to 30 years.

Earlier on Friday, CM Mann came down heavily at the Centre over the treatment of deported Indian nationals, who had allegedly illegally migrated to the US.

Alleging a conspiracy to 'defame' Punjabis, Mann said, "There is a conspiracy to defame Punjab and Punjabis. The first plane landed in Amritsar. Now, a second plane will land in Amritsar. The MEA should tell the criteria based on which Amritsar was selected to land the aircraft. You select Amritsar to defame Punjab."

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann criticised the centre calling it a conspiracy to malign Punjab and Punjabis. He raised security concerns, pointing to the geographical proximity to Pakistan, and questioned why the deportation flights must land in Amritsar when international flights are not allowed from Amritsar citing security reasons.

ANI