NEW DELHI: A charter plane grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation departed for India on Monday after an exceptional ordeal that left about 300 Indians en route to Central America blocked inside a rural French airport for four days.
However, only around 276 of the original 303 passengers are expected to return to India.
Around 25 have applied for asylum and have been transferred to a special zone in Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport for asylum-seekers.
Another two passengers have not been authorised to leave and will likely face some charges under French law.
The Nicaragua-bound charter flight that took off from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrying 303 passengers was grounded at the Vatry airport, 150 km east of Paris, on December 21 over suspected "human trafficking".
On Sunday, the French authorities allowed the A340 aircraft, operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines, to resume its journey on Monday.
The plane's departure was, however, delayed by several hours as many of the other passengers refused to return to India and said they will only go to Nicaragua -- the original destination of the flight, said media reports.
"Some of the passengers would be unhappy with this return because they wanted to continue their journey to Nicaragua as planned," the French news broadcast television and radio network had reported.
wo passengers held
Two passengers have not been authorised to leave and may face charges.
They will appear before a judge to face possible charges including involvement in an organised criminal group helping foreigners enter or stay in a country illegally, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
It did not specify whether human trafficking — which the UN defines as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim
