Nine Indian men stranded in UAE after accepting fake job offers
Dubai: Nine Indians have been stranded in the UAE after accepting fake job offers through social media, according to a media report on Sunday.
The men from Kerala, who are currently stranded in Al Ain and Ajman, claim they met the agent named Shafeeq on WhatsApp and paid up to Rs 70,000 for visit visas to the UAE, Khaleej Times reported.
The incident comes months after the Consulate General of India in Dubai asked job seekers to stay away from fraudulent job advertisements luring Indians to the UAE.
The Consulate said "job seekers should not fall prey to such bogus job offers and in case of any doubt, may seek clarification from the Consulate."
Fazil, one of the victims from Malappuram district in Kerala, said that he received the job offer on WhatsApp.
"A WhatsApp message that promised jobs in the UAE within 15 days was being widely shared in Kerala, and I also received the forwarded message. I really thought it was genuine as many people were showing interest," he was quoted as saying in the report.
Fazil said that he had a conversation with the agent who convinced him of a job in a supermarket in Al Ain.
"He told me I will get Dh1,200 (Rs 22,496) as monthly salary and free food and accommodation. I was going through tough times, and thought it would be a good start for me," said Fazil, who is a qualified technician.
Fazil said he mortgaged his mother's gold ornaments to cough up the money and cannot return home without a job.
Mohammed Rafeeq, 30, another victim from Kozhikode in Kerala, said he borrowed Rs 70,000 from friends and family for the job.
"Nine people including myself managed to pay up. And the agent formed a separate WhatsApp group for nine of us and we were communicating with each other," he said, adding the agent told them that they would be travelling together to the UAE.
But as soon as they landed in Abu Dhabi on July 15, the men said they realised they got duped.
Rafeeq said a local agent named Shameer met them at the airport and split the men into two groups.
"Four people were sent to Ajman and five of us of were taken to Al Ain. When asked about our jobs, he said the supermarket official is in jail and hence they will have to find new jobs for us. We immediately knew we were in trouble," Rafeeq was quoted as saying by the paper.
Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi has stepped in and have offered to assist in sending the men home.
Rafeeq said he and his friends are surviving on the allowance given by the embassy.
"We have repeatedly highlighted the need for ECR passport holders to not come to UAE on visit visa for employment purpose," Ambassador Navdeep Singh Suri told the paper.
Smita Pant, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy said they have started pushing for legal action against unscrupulous agents in India.
"We have reported about 40 such cases to Indian authorities and police investigations are on. That is important to deter these illegal agents from duping more people," the official said.
Pant said the embassy is encouraging victims to file a police case against the agents.
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CSOH founder urges US panel to act on persecution of Muslims, Christians in India
Says BJP, RSS enabling persecution of Muslims, Christians
Washington, D.C.: Raqib Hameed Naik, founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), has urged the United States government to consider sanctions against certain Indian political leaders and Hindu nationalist organisations, alleging systematic persecution of Muslims and Christians in India.
Naik made the remarks while testifying before the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on the condition of religious minorities in India.
In his testimony, Naik alleged that the persecution of Muslims and Christians in India is being enabled by senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and networks linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
“The persecution of Muslims and Christians in India bears the sanction of the country’s top political leadership led by Prime Minister Modi and is implemented through both the state and the militant networks of the Hindu nationalist movement anchored by the RSS,” he said.
Naik named Narendra Modi, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Yogi Adityanath while discussing demolitions, hate speech and alleged discrimination against minorities.
He alleged that “this persecution is now embedded in bureaucracy, codified in law, shielded by absolute impunity, and steadily more ruthless in execution.”
Referring to Assam, Naik claimed that over the last five years the state government had demolished more than 22,000 structures and displaced nearly 100,000 people, mostly Bengali Muslims who were “falsely labelled as Bangladeshi infiltrators.”
“Forty per cent of those displaced lost their homes in 2025 alone,” he said, adding that there were documented cases of Muslims allegedly being taken to the Bangladesh border and forced across.
Naik also raised concerns over bulldozer demolitions in other BJP-ruled states, saying they continued despite a 2024 order of the Supreme Court of India prohibiting such punitive actions.
He named several companies, including JCB, Caterpillar Inc., Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, alleging that their machinery was used in demolition drives targeting Muslim homes.
The testimony also highlighted alleged violence linked to beef consumption and cattle transport.
“Organized cow vigilante groups now operate in almost 17 states,” Naik said.
He further alleged a rise in public events where swords and knives are distributed and in programmes where Hindu nationalist recruits receive firearms training.
Speaking about Christians, Naik said they face “assaults on pastors and worshippers, the forcible closure of churches, denial of burial rights, and arrests on fabricated conversion charges.”
Naik also criticised social media platforms, stating that “US-based social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X serve as a central infrastructure for spreading this hate and bigotry and incitement to violence.”
According to CSOH’s 2025 report, Naik said the organisation documented 1,318 in-person hate speech events targeting Muslims and Christians in 21 Indian states.
“That is a shocking four hate speeches per day, and a 97 per cent increase over 2023,” he said.
During his testimony, Naik called on the US government to consider sanctions against certain BJP leaders and organisations such as the RSS, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
He also urged greater scrutiny of social media platforms and companies whose equipment he alleged had been used in demolition operations.
