Srinagar, Apr 14: Centre has rescued two dozen Kashmiri youth who were trafficked to Myanmar on the pretext of jobs.
Those rescued include Faizan Ahmad of Safakadal, who was trafficked and held captive in Myanmar under distressing conditions.
Traffickers demanded ransom money from the families of the victims. In the case of Faizan Ahmad, an amount of ₹4.5 lakh was demanded with threats of dire consequences.
“The Mission has taken up the issue of Indian nationals getting trapped in the Myawaddy area in Myanmar, strongly with the authorities. Requests for rescue and repatriation of all Indian nationals entrapped in Myawaddy have been forwarded to concerned authorities in Myanmar. It is reiterated that offers for the job in a foreign land should not be accepted without proper verification being done through concerned authorities,” reads the communication from the Consular Section, Embassy of India, Yangon, Myanmar.
On March 13, the Counter-Intelligence wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police said they have rescued 13 trafficked youths from a cyber-fraud hub in Myanmar.
SSP CIK Tahir Ashraf said that they were trafficked to Myanmar and were rescued from there.
It may be mentioned here that around 2500 Indian youth, including 13 Kashmiris who were trafficked to Myanmar, were repatriated last week.
The educated youth who search for jobs on social media, especially on Facebook, click on links and find job vacancies for data entry operators. The job is available in foreign countries, especially in Thailand.
These youth appeared in online interviews and got selected and some of them got air tickets and others were told that they have to come on their own.
The SSP said that after reaching Thailand, these youth realised that they had been scammed and trapped there.
“When our intelligence agencies came to know about J&K youth being trapped in Thailand, the matter was taken up at the highest level with the Centre,” he said
The SSP said that then a rescue operation was launched, and 13 youth reached Kashmir. “I request the youth not to get trapped through social media,” he added.
Expressing gratitude to External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, Jammu and Kashmir Students Association said swift and timely intervention that led to the rescue and repatriation of two dozen Kashmiri youth.
“These youth, hailing from economically weaker backgrounds, had been misled by fraudulent agents offering fake promises of jobs in Thailand. Upon reaching Bangkok, they were transported to Myanmar after a 15-hour bus journey and a forced river crossing. Once in Myanmar, they were held hostage in areas notorious for human trafficking, forced labor, cybercrime networks, and organized criminal syndicates,” said Nasir Khuehami, National Convenor of the Association