Hyderabad Youth Trafficked to Laos: Escaping Cyber Crime and Torture | Hyderabad News – Times of India

Hyderabad: After Cambodia, many from Hyderabad are now being trafficked to Laos on the pretext of providing jobs but later subjected to torture, including electric shocks, when they refuse to engage in cybercrime.
A 23-year-old former Rapido worker, who managed to escape after an ordeal of nearly three months, has revealed how he fell for a ‘well-paying job’ offer in Laos in a complaint filed on Sept 5 with the Telangana cyber crime police station.

Syed Saleemuddin, a resident of Yakutpura, recounted: “In April, a friend from my neighbourhood told me about a job in Laos with a starting salary of Rs 70,000 for two months, and Rs 45,000 per month thereafter. He introduced me to Syed Abdul Sami. I spoke to Sami on the phone, and he interviewed me to assess my English skills. He assured me that he would provide flight tickets, a work visa, and accommodation. The same job was offered to a friend, Mohd Javeed. Both of us paid Rs 30,000 each to Sami’s father in Hyderabad. Sami claimed to have arranged everything for our travel to Laos.”
On May 1, Saleemuddin and Javeed went to Hyderabad where they met another victim, Syed Irfan, who was also sent by Sami and Dawood, the agents in Laos.
“We three took a connecting flight from Hyderabad to Singapore, and finally to Laos capital Vientiane. After landing, we paid $40 each for visas on arrival,” said Saleemuddin.”From Vientiane, a two-hour train ride tooks us to Nateuy. From there, we travelled eight hours to reach the Golden Triangle. An agent from the company YING XIN PROPERTY, a man from Ethiopia, met us there, took our passports, and drove us to their office building in the Golden Triangle SEZ, Tonpherng district, Bokeo Province, Laos. Once there, they tested our typing and English-speaking skills and made us sign agreements after taking our photos,” said Saleemuddin whose father works as a parking lot manager in Abids.
He continued, “A logistics manager then showed us our accommodation and provided a basic kit. The next day, we were taken for medical tests and given ID cards. We met two other victims, Mir Muzaffar Ali Khan and Khaleel, who were also sent by Sami and Dawood. After three-four days, we met Sami and Dawood and told them we didn’t want to work there because it involved scamming Indians. They promised to help us to leave but never did. We realised we had been cheated and forced into cybercrimes such as fraudulent investments, honeytraps, and crypto investments, targeting Indians based in the US, UK, and Canada.”
The Modus Operandi and Torture
The company hacked Facebook and Instagram accounts from where ‘slave workers’ such as Saleemuddin used photos and data to build fake profiles. Using the platform ‘AI Arbitrage’, they pretended to exchange cryptocurrencies, sending friend requests to Indians and luring them into fake investments.
Saleemuddin added, “We faced punishments if we didn’t meet our targets. They gave us small electric shocks, forced us to walk 15 floors seven times, imposed fines, and kept us locked in our rooms after 5 pm. The food was inedible. Anyone refusing to work faced brutal punishments.”
The Escape
“Two people from Rajasthan had managed to escape and reach the Indian embassy. They gave us the contact of Srikanth from the embassy, who shared an email ID to reach out for help. We sent our details to the Indian embassy. A list from the labour office later reached our company, and when they confronted us, we refused to continue working. They destroyed our SIM cards and wiped our phones of all data. After nine days, they returned our passports and asked us to book flights. We crossed a river by boat to reach Thailand border and travelled to Bangkok airport. From there, we took a flight back to Hyderabad, arriving on July 24,” he narrated.
Following the complaint, CCPS headquarters SHO KVM Prasad booked a case under the IT Act.