Promised a job in Thailand, Mohammad Azam and his friend Junaid boarded a flight to Bangkok in September. On their arrival, however, they were smuggled through forests and rivers across the border to Myanmar. For over a month, the duo, along with several other Indian nationals, were allegedly forced into cybercrime.
In October, a few of them made a run for it, and on November 6, Azam and 20 others from Uttarakhand were among more than 300 Indians who were finally brought back home.
On Thursday, the Uttarakhand Cybercrime Special Task Force arrested a man, identified as Sunil Singh, for allegedly “recruiting” the 21 men from the state under the pretext of giving them jobs in Southeast Asia.
Story continues below this ad
On their arrival in Bangkok, Sunil, along with his aide, who remains at large, facilitated the transportation of the men to KK Park in Myanmar, where they were allegedly held captive and forced into cybercrime.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Kush Mishra said the men’s passports were then confiscated and were kept as “cyber slaves”.
“We have arrested the man who was directly involved with the victims, and another name has cropped up of a woman who lives on the border. Her arrest will take us to the mastermind of this nexus,” the officer said.
One of the victims was Azam, who lived in Sunil’s neighbourhood and fell for his promises. The Uttarakhand police team has registered an FIR at Jaspur police station in Udham Sunil Nagar against Sunil on Azam’s complaint. The complaint said that Sunil had been repeatedly sending people abroad for jobs, and two months ago, Sunil contacted the victim’s father and told him that Azam could get a job in an office in Thailand if he knew how to operate a computer for a salary of Rs 60,000-70,000 per month.
Story continues below this ad
“As I had no source of employment, we were misled by Sunil’s assurances. My father arranged the money by borrowing and gave Rs 70,000 in cash to Sunil. Sunil also took cash from another man, Junaid, from the same locality to send him to Thailand as well,” Azam alleged.
On September 15, Sunil took the duo to Delhi in a car, and from Delhi, they boarded a flight to Thailand. “Before we left, Sunil told us that once we reached Bangkok airport, we should stand outside on the road and that a man would come there, show us our photos on his mobile, and we should go with him. That man, he said, would take us to the company,” Azam said.
“We followed Sunil’s instructions. After reaching the Bangkok airport, we waited outside on the road, where a man came in a car to pick us up. He drove us through a forest route to a river, made us sit in a boat, and took us across the river. After crossing, we realised we had reached Myanmar. There, an agent took our interview and placed us in a company for work. We then learned that we were being forced to do cyber fraud work,” he claimed.
On being informed of his situation, Azam’s father spoke to Sunil, who demanded Rs 4 lakh for his return.
Story continues below this ad
Azam said that in Myanmar, he was made to work forcibly, like a bonded labourer. On October 22, Azam and a few other men got an opportunity to escape. They reached the Thailand border, where they recounted their problems to Army personnel. “The Army contacted the Embassy, and we were rescued and sent back to India. I returned to India by flight on the evening of November 6,” he said.
He alleged that Sunil threatened to kill them when they demanded their money back.
Police said investigations are also being conducted into the foreign contacts of the identified agents in KK Park. An officer said that an informant of Portuguese nationality had been tipping them off.
