3 Hyderabadis Lured Into Myanmar Fraud Factory

Around 16 Indian youths were lured by job offers and were taken to scam centres for cyber slavery near Thailand-Myanmar border. Among them are three from Hyderabad – Mir Sajjad Ali, Sameer Khan from Moula Ali and Arshad from Banjara Hills.

“He left the house during Muharram. We do not know where he got the job from; we just know that it was for a sales executive. His father also works in Kuwait,” said Nazia Ali, the mother of Sajjad, requesting the government to bring her son back.

“He just told us that he was going overseas for work and asked us to take care. My son left happy and with aspirations, and there, he was blindfolded, beaten up, and threatened for life.
Detailing the ordeal, Nazia said that Sajjad made a distress call on January 16 and sounded intimidated. He was reportedly told that he would be working in Bangkok but was taken to Myanmar, blindfolded. There, he found himself in a dark room along with a few others including women. “He said there were people dressed in an army uniform. When he said he wanted to leave, he was beaten in the eye,” Nazia said.

“They threatened to put them in jail or even kill them if they tried to escape. We want our children back,” said Unnisa, the mother of Sameer Khan.

Family members said the youths were contacted through Instagram and were trapped through offers of roles like sales executive, promising a pay of `1 lakh per month. The youth were reportedly video-called and shown pictures of luxury villas with swimming pools to instantly get attracted to the job offer.

Families of the youths had reached out to AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who had put out a tweet, requesting the external affairs ministry to conduct rescue operations. “They are forced to work 18-20 hours daily, physically punished, and deprived of passports, phones, and medical facilities. @DrSJaishankar, kindly intervene urgently to ensure the rescue of all Indians,” Owaisi said in his post, tatting the external affairs minister.

“This information comes from Mir Sajjad Ali, a resident of Osmannagar, Hyderabad, currently incarcerated at the Myanmar-Thailand border. Two others with him are from Moula Ali and Banjara Hills.”

Several youths from India, including Telangana, were earlier rescued from cyber slavery rackets in Myanmar. Youth are initially lured with job offers and later subjected to physical and mental abuse and reportedly forced to commit frauds against people in India.

When contacted, the office of the Telangana resident commissioner in New Delhi said that they have not yet received any formal information or calls on their helpline number.