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Beed graphic designer trafficked to Myanmar after falling for fake job ad
Graphic designer from Beed district was allegedly trafficked to Myanmar–Thailand border and forced to work in cyber fraud operation after falling for a fake job advertisement on social media, police said
Pune: A 24-year-old graphic designer from Beed district was allegedly trafficked to the Myanmar–Thailand border and forced to work in a cyber fraud operation after falling for a fake job advertisement on social media, police said on Monday.
The Beed cyber police have registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by the victim’s wife and launched an investigation. The case has exposed what authorities suspect is a large international human trafficking and cyber fraud network allegedly holding hundreds of Indian nationals captive.
The FIR was registered on June 26 following a complaint by 24-year-old Sangita Salunkhe of Nandurghat in Beed. Her husband, Swapnil Salunkhe, is a graphic designer.
According to the complaint, on June 1, Swapnil came across a social media advertisement offering a data entry and graphic designing job in Bangkok, Thailand, with a promised monthly salary of ₹70,000. He contacted the recruiters through the WhatsApp number provided in the advertisement.
Believing the offer to be genuine, Swapnil flew from Pune to Bangkok on June 4. However, soon after reaching Bangkok, he began suspecting that something was amiss. On the evening of June 5, he called his wife and expressed concerns about the nature of the job and the people involved.
The following day, during a WhatsApp call, he told her that unidentified persons had taken him from Bangkok to an isolated location near the Myanmar–Thailand border.
The gravity of the situation became clear on June 7 when Swapnil informed his wife that the agents had forcibly confiscated his passport and other identity documents.
“They are forcing my husband to work 16 to 18 hours a day in online fraud operations. If he refuses to work or fails to meet targets, they torture him physically, give him electric shocks, beat him, and threaten to kill him,” Sangita alleged.
According to the FIR, accessed by HT, Swapnil told his wife that around 700 to 800 Indian nationals were allegedly trapped at the same facility and forced to carry out cyber fraud activities. Of them, around 20 to 25 are reportedly from Maharashtra.
He claimed to have witnessed two to three captives being killed by the operators to instill fear among those being held.
Navneet Kanwat, superintendent of police, Beed, said, “We are coordinating with the embassies as part of the investigation.”
The police have booked unidentified international agents under Sections 61(2), 318(4), 143, 127(4), and 127(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, along with Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
