E-Paper
Families of 3 human trafficking victims from Kerala plead for help
The families of three young men from Kerala, who were lured with lucrative job offers as security guards in Russia but were instead forced to fight in the Russian Army against Ukraine in the ongoing conflict, plead desperately with government authorities for ensuring their return home.
The families of three young men from Kerala, who were lured with lucrative job offers as security guards in Russia but were instead forced to fight in the Russian Army against Ukraine in the ongoing conflict, plead desperately with government authorities for ensuring their return home. One of the men was even injured in the conflict and underwent a surgery.
The three men – Prince Sebastian (24), Vineeth Silva (23) and Tinu Paniyadima (25) – all cousins and hailing from the coastal hamlet of Anchuthengu in Thiruvananthapuram district were approached by a recruitment agent based in Thumba who told them about jobs as security guards in Russia with monthly salaries ranging from ₹2-2.5 lakh, a family member told HT.
Prasanth, the younger brother of Prince, said, “All three of them were engaged in fishing here. We thought the job offer was good. We took out loans and borrowed money from others to pay ₹7 lakh each to the agents. They left for Russia on January 3 this year.”
“For the first few weeks, we didn’t hear anything from them. It was on February 6 that they called us and told us that they had been cheated by the agents. Instead of regular jobs, they were enlisted in the Russian army and forced to fight in the war against Ukraine. They said that their passports and employment documents were confiscated. My brother was injured in the conflict when a bullet scratched his forehead and a grenade exploded near him, causing grievous injuries to both of his legs,” Prasanth added.
While his brother Prince is reported to be in Moscow, recovering post-surgery, both Vineeth and Tinu are currently on the battlefront along with the Russian forces in Ukraine, he said.
Though HT reached out to Prince in Russia, he said he was not in a situation to talk.
The families of the three men met Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, pleading for government help in bringing them back especially as their passports had been confiscated. They have also petitioned chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan regarding the same.
Speaking to the reporters, Muraleedharan said, “The union government is making all efforts to bring the men back home. Steps are being taken against the fake recruitment agencies who took them to Russia. The Russian embassy in India is also making interventions in this regard to locate the men. I am in touch with our embassy in Russia on a daily basis and we are hopeful of good news.”
The CBI earlier this month had busted a major human trafficking network that was luring people with lucrative job offers in Russia and instead misled into engaging in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The agency conducted searches at 10 locations including Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram and registered a first information report (FIR) against various visa consultancy firms and agencies. At least two men, from Hyderabad and Surat, have been similarly cheated by agents and subsequently were killed in the conflict.
