A group of forty three people from Haryana has been brought back to India after being detained in Myanmar and Thailand for their alleged involvement in illegal cyber fraud operations. Officials said they were repatriated last week after Thai authorities caught them entering the country without valid documents. They were among the four hundred sixty seven Indian nationals who arrived in Delhi on special flights on November 6 and November 10.
According to cyber police, these individuals had been working at Chinese backed scam centres located in the Myawaddy region of Myanmar. They were recruited by agents who promised well paid jobs in IT firms and data entry centres. But once they reached Myanmar, they were forced to run fake investment schemes, dating scams, digital arrest frauds and romance scams that targeted victims in India and other countries. Their passports were taken away and they were made to work under coercion.
Many of the victims have limited education and few employment opportunities. An officer said they were offered attractive salaries and free travel, which convinced them to accept the jobs. After raids by Myanmar’s military in October, several scam workers fled to Thailand, where they were detained in Mae Sot for violating immigration rules.
Police said all forty three returnees will now be questioned by central agencies to identify the recruiters, handlers and networks behind the operations. Officers believe this is part of a wider transnational crime syndicate and are collecting information on agents working in Delhi NCR and other states who arranged illegal travel for cyber fraud work. Authorities are also working to track the facilitators who moved these individuals across borders.
Officials said the repatriation was made possible through coordination between the ministry of external affairs, the Indian embassy in Bangkok and the Thai authorities. They added that similar scam compounds or cyber villages exist in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, where thousands of Indians are believed to be trapped or involved in cyber fraud. The group includes a woman and several young men who were employed at these illegal centres. Efforts are underway to bring back more Indians who remain stuck in such cyber scam hubs across Southeast Asia.
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