Tortured and forced into 'cyber slavery', 60 Indians rescued from Myanmar; five agents held
Mumbai (PTI): The cyber wing of Maharashtra Police has rescued more than 60 Indian nationals who were tortured and forced into cyber slavery in Myanmar, and arrested five agents, including a foreign national, a senior official said here on Friday.
The victims in the case were promised high-paying jobs abroad, but were threatened and physically tortured to commit cyber frauds there, he said.
This is perhaps the biggest action taken by the Maharashtra Cyber in a cyber slavery case with the help of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), he said.
Cyber slavery is an emerging form of exploitation that begins with online deception and evolves into physical human trafficking.
Maharashtra Cyber has registered three First Information Reports (FIRs) in this connection, he said.
The racketeers contacted the victims through social media platforms and lured them with high-paying jobs in Thailand and other East Asian countries, he said.
The agents arranged passports and flight tickets for the victims and sent them to Thailand on tourist visas. After landing in the country, they were sent to the Myanmar border, where they were made to cross a river in small boats.
On entering Myanmar, the victims were taken to guarded compounds controlled by armed rebel groups, where they were forced to commit cyber frauds ranging from 'digital arrest' scams to fake investment schemes on an industrial scale.
Maharashtra Cyber, along with other agencies, rescued the victims, the official said, without giving details as to whether the operation was carried out inside Myanmar.
Additional Director General of Police (Maharashtra Cyber) Yashasvi Yadav said, "The accused include facilitators who helped the victims to take them to Myanmar."
"During the investigation of the case, four accused were arrested by the Goa Police, while we arrested the main accused from Mumbai, who was an Indian conduit," he said, adding that of the 60 victims, some could be named as accused if they were found to have played a role in it.
In order to force the victims into cyber frauds, the accused persons used to torture them. In some cases, they would even pull out the nails of the victims. The passports of the victims were seized, and they were subjected to torture and threats, he said.
After their rescue, the victims threw light on the network of agents and fraudulent call centre companies which lured job aspirants from India. Some of these companies operated under the garb of employment agencies, he said.
Manish Grey alias Maddy, Taisan alias Aaditya Ravi Chandran, Rupnarayan Ramdhar Gupta, Jensi Rani D and Chinese-Kazakhstani national Talaniti Nulaxi were arrested for allegedly acting as recruitment agents.
Manish Grey alias Maddy is a professional actor who has appeared in web series and television shows, the official said.
Along with others, Grey allegedly recruited unsuspecting individuals and facilitated their trafficking to Myanmar, he added.
Talaniti Nulaxi was allegedly planning to set up a unit in India to commit cybercrimes, he said, adding that further probe was on.
Sharing his experience, one of the victims, Satish, said that he was offered a job as a restaurant manager in Thailand.
"After reaching Thailand, the agent took us to the Myanmar border, and we were not aware that he had sold us for 5,000 dollars per person," he said.
"They seized our passports on day one. They used to beat us and force us into committing cyber frauds, including extortion, digital arrests and cheating," he said.
"In case anybody refused to work, the accused persons would terrorise us with a gunman, who was deputed at the workplace, and torture us," he said, adding some of them were even threatened with organ removal.
The area where these people were taken, known as Miawadi, is in the control of rebels, and people there carry with them AK-47 rifles and automatic weapons, he said.
Another victim, Monukumar Sharma, a resident of Naigaon in Palghar district told PTI that the racketeers used to torture the workers by using different means.
"In case a worker refused to work or reacted sharply, he would be beaten up," he said.
"We were fixed a salary of 25,000 Thai Bahts, but they found some reason or the other to deduct our salary. If someone was found sitting with crossed legs, the accused person would cut half the salary of that person," Sharma said.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
