250 Indians rescued from Cambodia in crackdown on ‘fake job’ scam, says MEA
New Delhi, Mar 31: Amid reports of several Indian nationals stuck in Cambodia who were lured with employment opportunities there but were allegedly forced to undertake illegal cyber work, the MEA on Saturday said the Union government is collaborating closely with the Cambodian authorities and about 250 Indians have been "rescued and repatriated".
Of these 250, 75 of them in just the last three months, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
"We have seen media reports on Indian nationals stuck in Cambodia. Our Embassy in Cambodia has been promptly responding to complaints from Indian nationals who were lured with employment opportunities to that country but were forced to undertake illegal cyber work," it said.
"Collaborating closely with Cambodian authorities, it has rescued and repatriated about 250 Indians, of which 75 in just the last three months," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was quoted as saying in the statement.
Several advisories have also been issued by the ministry and the Embassy of India in Cambodia to "our nationals about such scams", the statement said.
The MEA said that it issued the statement in response to media queries.
"We remain committed to helping all those Indian nationals in Cambodia who seek our support. We are also working with Cambodian authorities and with agencies in India to crack down on those responsible for these fraudulent schemes," Jaiswal said.
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Mumbai family deaths: FDA finds no watermelon vendor in area to check for affected stock
Mumbai (PTI): The Food and Drug Administration team probing the cause of death of four members of a family in south Mumbai's JJ Marg area have not been able to zero in on any watermelon vendor in the vicinity to check if the fruit had a role to play in the ill-fated incident, an official said on Thursday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am, hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
"The FDA team visited the house of Dokadia and collected samples of chicken pulao and watermelon pieces. After two days, the leftover chicken pulao had developed fungus growth. The team also tried to locate watermelon vendors to check for any affected lots," he said.
But no vendors were found in the area for the past two days, preventing the FDA team from getting samples, the official added.
The FDA has requested the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to share the report on the food samples collected by them, he added.
A senior Mumbai police official said the force is waiting for FSL reports in the case, adding that questions on presence of sedatives etc in the fruit could be answered only then.
The statements of the kin of the deceased are being recorded to ascertain if it is a case of mass suicide, and it is being checked if the Dokadia family were in debt or distressed over some issue, the police official said.
