French police have taken two men into custody day after grounding a Nicaragua-bound plane carrying more than 300 Indian passengers over suspected “human trafficking”. Indian authorities have also reached the spot and are investigating the situation.

France grounded a charter flight headed to Nicaragua carrying 303 Indian passengers on Friday to conduct a judicial investigation.The Airbus A340, belonging to Romanian charter company Legend Airlines, had flown in from the United Arab Emirates, and had landed at Vatry airport in eastern France for a technical stopover. The airport is 150 kms from Paris, and is mostly used by budget airllines.

Authorities stepped in and grounded the plane after an anonymous tip-off that some of the passengers on board were “victims of human trafficking”, the Paris prosecutor said.

Two men have been detained and are being questioned by a unit specialising in organised crime.

Liliana Bakayoko, who said she was a lawyer for Legend Airlines, told AFP the company believed it had done nothing wrong, had committed no offence “and is at the disposal of the French authorities”. But the airline would take legal action if the prosecutors file charges, she added.