Two Palwal men kept hostage in Russia after trafficked on pretext of job, seven booked

Two Palwal cousins were allegedly trafficked to Russia on promises of high-paying jobs, held hostage after protesting over wages and jailed for visa violations

At least seven suspects were booked for allegedly trafficking two men from Palwal and taking them hostage in Russia after luring them with high-paying jobs, police said on Friday.

Cousins lured with ₹1.8 lakh monthly salary

Seven suspects booked for allegedly trafficking two Palwal men to Russia and holding them hostage (Hindustan Times/Representational image)

Police said the two victims, Mukesh Kumar, 30, and Sunil Kumar, 29, both cousins, are residents of Palwal’s Khambi village. Three suspects from the village told the duo that they could earn a monthly salary of up to ₹1.8 lakh in Russia. One of the suspect’s wife was operating an employment agency in Delhi.

Investigators said that both men were charged up to ₹3.5 lakh each by the woman, and she arranged their visas and flight tickets and sent them to Russia on June 30.

A police officer, privy to the investigation, said that the duo was employed at a manufacturing firm for a daily wage of 6000 rubles, which is approximately ₹6,656 in Indian rupees.

“However, every day, four persons from India, including one from their village, paid them 2500 rubles each and kept 3500 rubles for themselves. After finding out, the duo protested,” he said.

“When the duo kept protesting for their salaries, the suspects assaulted them and took them hostage in a room,” he said.

Investigators said that when the duo did not stop protesting, the suspects told local police in Russia that they had started working at a factory with a tourist visa.

Victims jailed for visa violations after being held hostage

Mukesh said that police personnel in Russia carried out a raid at their room on July 14 and sent them to prison after arresting them for visa norm violations.

“Police told us that if we could arrange return tickets, they will release us. We tried to contact our villager in Russia but he had switched off his phone. We contacted our families to ask the person in Palwal to provide return tickets. However, he extorted money from our families multiple times by cancelling the tickets on the day of journey. We had to remain in jail for 30 days,” he said.

“Our families finally arranged tickets, following which we were allowed to fly back to Delhi on August 20,” he said.

FIR registered against seven suspects

Inspector Kailash Chand, station house officer of Mundkati police station, said that on Mukesh’s complaint, an FIR was registered against seven suspects, including four from Palwal, under sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on Wednesday.

“One of the prime suspects from Khambi, whose wife owns the agency, is in Russia. We are gathering information about all the suspects to arrest them soon,” he added.