DEHRADUN: Amid efforts to rescue over 15 men from Uttarakhand abducted from Thailand and forced to work in “scam call centres” in Myanmar by alleged Chinese handlers, at least nine women from the state have now been abducted using the same modus operandi.
The nine were among 11 Indian women abducted last month, TOI has learnt exclusively from families of the men held in the call centres.They were lured to Thailand with lucrative job offers.
From Thailand, the women were abducted and taken to Myanmar’s Myawaddy to forcefully work at cyber-crime hubs. The development comes days after Indian embassy in Myanmar posted on X about the release of 11 Indians from one such centre in that country on July 19.
Uttarakhand home secretary Shailesh Bagauli told TOI that the state govt is in touch with MEA officials. He added: “We’ve apprised MEA about the youths of Uttarakhand held captive in Myanmar. As far as the nine women are concerned, the dept is gathering details about them. We’re taking all required steps to rescue them as soon as possible.”
A family member of an Uttarakhand youth held captive in the neighbouring country said, “The women are being subjected to brutal torture, including beating, after being stripped by abductors in front of other abductees. It was witnessed by our wards present there who said that their screams during the torture sent shivers down their spine.”
He added that the women are “always at risk of getting sexually assaulted”. He said, “Our son while speaking to us over an instant messaging application said the abductors were constantly threatening that the women will be pushed into flesh trade. Govt should step up its efforts to free all Indians held in such centres in Myanmar and other southeast Asian nations like Laos and Cambodia, as the abductors have killed a few of the abductees, including one Bangladeshi national, a few days ago.”
There are at least 20 men from different districts of Uttarakhand reported to have been abducted in Thailand and then taken to Myanmar at gunpoint to work in the scam call centres in May. All of them were lured to Thailand with job offers in the IT and restaurant sectors, only to be told later to defraud unsuspecting people, many of them retirees with only pensions to their name, from across the world.
The nine were among 11 Indian women abducted last month, TOI has learnt exclusively from families of the men held in the call centres.They were lured to Thailand with lucrative job offers.
From Thailand, the women were abducted and taken to Myanmar’s Myawaddy to forcefully work at cyber-crime hubs. The development comes days after Indian embassy in Myanmar posted on X about the release of 11 Indians from one such centre in that country on July 19.
Uttarakhand home secretary Shailesh Bagauli told TOI that the state govt is in touch with MEA officials. He added: “We’ve apprised MEA about the youths of Uttarakhand held captive in Myanmar. As far as the nine women are concerned, the dept is gathering details about them. We’re taking all required steps to rescue them as soon as possible.”
A family member of an Uttarakhand youth held captive in the neighbouring country said, “The women are being subjected to brutal torture, including beating, after being stripped by abductors in front of other abductees. It was witnessed by our wards present there who said that their screams during the torture sent shivers down their spine.”
He added that the women are “always at risk of getting sexually assaulted”. He said, “Our son while speaking to us over an instant messaging application said the abductors were constantly threatening that the women will be pushed into flesh trade. Govt should step up its efforts to free all Indians held in such centres in Myanmar and other southeast Asian nations like Laos and Cambodia, as the abductors have killed a few of the abductees, including one Bangladeshi national, a few days ago.”
There are at least 20 men from different districts of Uttarakhand reported to have been abducted in Thailand and then taken to Myanmar at gunpoint to work in the scam call centres in May. All of them were lured to Thailand with job offers in the IT and restaurant sectors, only to be told later to defraud unsuspecting people, many of them retirees with only pensions to their name, from across the world.
#Uttarakhand #women #captive #Myanmar #stripped #beaten #family #members #Times #India
