26 March,2024 02:58 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic/File
As many as 25 Indians were allegedly lured with 'high-paying' jobs in Thailand but taken to Laos, where they were forced to commit cyber fraud. Mumbai Police have arrested two persons in connection with the matter, an official said on Tuesday, reported the PTI.
According to the PTI, the arrest of agents who were identified as Jerry Jacob (46), whom police described as the kingpin of the racket, and his associate Godfrey Alvares (39) came on the complaint of one Siddharth Yadav (23), the police said.
The case was registered by the Mumbai Police on March 23 which also names another agent Sunny, as per the PTI.
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Maharashtra's Thane resident Yadav and three others, who too were victims of the job syndicate, had managed to return from Laos with the help of the Indian embassy in the Southeast Asian country, the news agency reported on Tuesday.
Yadav told the police that he flew to Thailand in December 2022 hoping to earn good money but was taken to a place in Laos, near the Thailand border.
Accused Jacob, Alvares and Sunny allegedly made Yadav and about two dozen Indians work in call centres that scammed people in Europe, the US and Canada through fake social media accounts, the official said, according to the PTI.
The call centres imposed hefty fines on employees citing flimsy reasons, Yadav said in his complaint.
The complainant said he and three others were thrashed by the accused when they approached the Indian embassy in Laos for their return.
After the intervention by the Indian embassy, the local police rescued the youngsters, including Yadav, the official said.
The police have pressed charges against the accused for criminal intimidation, wrongful confinement, trafficking and cheating under the Indian Penal Code, and Immigration Act.
Meanwhile, in an another incident, earlier this month, the West Cyber Cell of Mumbai Police nabbed a man for allegedly duping a victim Rs 12.70 lakh in a task fraud case, the police said on Saturday.
The police have frozen Rs 34.43 lakh from 12 different bank accounts, an official said.
According to the police, the incident came to light on February 7 when the complainant approached the police station to register an FIR against an unknown person.
The suspect had contacted the victim over the telegram and the alleged accused had claimed that he's an employee of biotech company and he lured the victim by saying that he would earn "good commission" if a search engine location reviews were done right, the official said.
The suspect then told the victim to "invest" in the company, he said.
He also allegedly sent her a link in which an amount was displayed.
The complainant got lured by his offer and paid Rs 12 lakh, the official said.
After the complainant reached out to the police, it registered an FIR.
(with PTI inputs)
