It has been 15 days since Lakshma Reddy, a farmer from Karimnagar district of Telangana ate or slept properly. His son Madhukar Reddy, is among the 540 Indians who are on the plane to India from Thailand. All of them, including 42 Telugus, were trapped and forced to execute cyber crimes targeting Americans and other nationals from different locations inside Myanmar.
“I have been eating only one meal a day. I just could not sleep all these days. How can I? I was very scared for my son’s life.” Lakshma Reddy said. His ordeal is set to end on Wednesday evening at Hyderabad airport as he will be reunited with his son.
At least for the past two years, the modus operandi of fraudsters running the well-organised cyber crime remains the same. Gullible job seekers are lured to Thailand with the promise of legal jobs with hefty salaries. As soon as they reach Thailand, the victims are ferried through the Moei River, a riverine border between Thailand and Myanmar, and then dropped at Myawaddy on the other side.
Madhukar Reddy also went through a similar experience. According to his father, he was working in Dubai when he started a business with hard-earned savings but failed. With the pressure to make up for losses amounting to ₹20 lakhs, he decided to work after coming across an online post offering a lucrative job in Thailand. He contacted the agents, paid them commissions and landed in Thailand and then in Myanmar in December. Only then did he call up his father and share his harrowing experience.
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“For 15 days, he did not complain much. After that, he told us that they are forcing him to commit fraud online and he was not liking it. They stopped giving him food and even beat him up. He said that they were demanding ₹4 lakhs to let him return to India.” Lakshma Reddy ran from pillar to post, contacting his relatives in the media and politicians. Hopes were rekindled after he formally submitted a letter to Karimnagar MP, Bandi Sanjay, who is also the Minister of State for Home and the latter assured him help. He took up the matter at the highest level and wrote to the External Affairs Ministry.
Recently, Indians along with other foreign nationals, were rescued from the cyber-crime factories in a joint operation of Thailand and Myanmar governments and brought back to Delhi. Reddy is one among them. The family shared the location where Reddy was held captive and forced to work against his wishes. The geographical coordinates matched the information provided by previous victims. Google Earth reveals that the structures resembling warehouses and corporate buildings had come up after 2022 and are located bordering the water body. Despite dozens of complaints rescue missions and awareness campaigns from the government, the youth desperate for employment continue to be deceived and pushed into the cycle of crime playing out on the other side of the Moei River.
