Packed Off To Yangon Without A Telephone

 LUCKNOW: What began as a dream of a better life overseas ended in fear, abuse, and captivity for 30-year-old Vinod Kumar, son of an e-rickshaw driver from Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh, who recently returned to India after being deported from Myanmar. Kumar is one of the 38 other men from UP who were rescued after Thailand and Myanmar police arrested 100 people in the last week of January as a part of its crackdown on the scam centres in the country. A senior UP Police officer said that Indian embassies in Myanmar and Thailand coordinated with local authorities to secure the repatriation of 283 Indian nationals by an IAF aircraft from Mae Sot in Thailand, 38 of whom were from UP.

Back home, they recounted their tales of horror from the notorious KK Park, a major hub of cybercrimes, internet frauds, investment frauds, on the Myanmar-Thailand border. Atul Singh, a 25-year-old BCA graduate from Auraiya, had his eyes welled up while talking to TOI. “My mother sold her jewellery, so that I could study and go abroad to earn, but I got trapped and was tortured,” he said.

Abhimanyu Kumar, 30, from Gonda, who holds a BBA degree, said that the recruitment appeared legitimate. “Through Telegram channels, agents posed as HR professionals offering $15,000 (Rs 12 lakh) annual salaries. The process included written exams in English and general knowledge, and even in-person interviews in Delhi. With seemingly valid visas, I, along with other candidates from Tamil Nadu, Bengaluru, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, flew to Bangkok in October 2024—unaware of the trap awaiting us. Just a week into our stay, the nightmare began. We were illegally moved across the Thailand-Myanmar border to Myawaddy’s KK Park,” he said.