HYDERABAD: The foreign ministry on Friday said that it has identified four companies involved in the job entrapment racket in Myanmar and is working on rescuing the Indians – about 100 to 150 men – who are still stranded there.So far the authorities have managed to rescue 32.
However, people from Hyderabad and Delhi who have managed to return told TOI that at least 500 Indians are believed to be trapped there.Every day, at least 10-20 Indians are brought to Myawaddy and Mae Sot.
Read Also Lured to Thailand, 300 Indians now forced into cybercrime in Myanmar More than 300 Indians, including at least 60 from Tamil Nadu, have been held hostage by a gang at Myawaddy in Myanmar where they are forced to do cybercrime activities, multiple sources told TOI.People from some other countries were also being held by the racket.
“Until now, OKX Plus (Dubai-based), Lazada, Super Energy group and Zhentian group have been identified as the companies offering these jobs,” a statement from the Office of the Protector of Emigrants (PoE-Hyderabad) said, confirming that the Indian IT professionals trapped into taking up these jobs were made to pose as Chinese women online and defraud high net worth individuals from the US and Europe in the name of crypto currency investment.
Several IT companies operate from Myawaddy, not far away from the IT SEZ area at Mae Sot, the main hub of the “slave labour” racket.Myawaddy, along the Thailand-Myanmar border, is said to be largely controlled by Chinese nationals.
Read Also ‘We are slaves now…
fear being shot,’ say Indians held hostage in Myanmar About 300 Indians being held hostage and forced to work as cybercriminals in a complex in Myanmar’s Myawaddy.They are made to suffer, including electric shocks, if they refuse to work as cybercriminals for their captors at “KK Park” in a company owned by a Chinese national, and threatened to be
“If we are to come out alive, the government of India should act immediately,” an IT professional from Mumbai trapped there said.
The PoE office said that these job seekers “travel using the visa-on-arrival facility to Bangkok and are quickly transferred to Myanmar.Hence, tracking their arrival and onward movement is not possible until the mission is contacted by the victims or their relatives.”
Read Also Karnataka techie among Indians captured by Myanmar rebels A software engineer from Karnataka is suspected to be among the 100-150 Indian techies held hostage and forced to orchestrate cyberfraud in rebel-controlled Myawaddy, southeastern Myanmar.
The first such case was reported in July 2022.
“Since then, the MEA, through its missions in Thailand and Myanmar, has been taking necessary action to rescue such Indian nationals…Our embassies at Yangon and Bangkok have issued advisories and have been regularly taking up the matter with the local authorities,” the PoE said.In many instances, individuals had taken up these jobs despite being warned about the consequences, it added.
“It has also been noted that some Indians are voluntarily involved in scamming jobs and received good remuneration/incentive to lure other Indian nationals,” it said..
