The Mumbai police have arrested two persons after it discovered that over 25 Indians were lured with "high-paying" jobs in Thailand but taken to Laos, where they were coerced into committing cyber fraud.
The arrest of Jerry Jacob (46), identified as the mastermind behind the operation, and his associate Godfrey Alvares (39) was prompted by a complaint filed by Siddharth Yadav (23). The case, filed on March 23, also implicates another individual named Sunny.
Yadav, a resident of Thane, along with three others who were also victims of the job scam, managed to return to India from Laos with assistance from the Indian embassy in the Southeast Asian nation.
Yadav recounted to the police his journey to Thailand in December 2022 with hopes of securing well-paying employment, only to be transported to a location near the Thailand-Laos border.
Accused individuals Jacob, Alvares, and Sunny allegedly compelled Yadav and approximately two dozen other Indians to work in call centres, perpetrating scams targeting individuals in Europe, the US, and Canada through fake social media accounts, according to an official statement.
Yadav complained that the call centres imposed hefty fines on employees for trivial reasons.
The complainant further alleged that he and three others were subjected to physical assault by the accused when they sought assistance from the Indian embassy in Laos for their repatriation.
Following the intervention of the Indian embassy, local authorities rescued the youths, including Yadav, the official confirmed.
The police have filed charges against the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including criminal intimidation, wrongful confinement, trafficking, cheating, as well as provisions of the Immigration Act.
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