Six youths from Bihar were rescued from a cyber fraud hub in Myawaddy, Myanmar, on Saturday after falling victim to an international job scam, officials said.
The victims, who had been promised lucrative jobs in Thailand, were instead trafficked to Myanmar via Thailand. One of them, Sachin Kumar Singh (39), a computer science engineer and YouTuber, shared harrowing details of his ordeal.
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“I urge everyone not to fall into this trap. I was offered a job in Thailand by a Nepali citizen, Dharmendra Choudhary, who promised me an annual salary of ₹12 lakh. On January 15, Dharmendra and Jitendra Choudhary (both Nepali citizens) facilitated my travel to Bangkok via Kolkata and then to Myanmar on a ‘work visa’. Three months later, I was taken hostage by armed men, who claimed that money had been paid to their agents. They demanded ₹5 lakh for my release, snatched my passport and phone, and locked me in a dark room. When I refused to comply, they beat me and forced me to call my family for money, even threatening to sell my organs,” Sachin said. He added that he survived on rice mixed with sugar and salt due to the unavailability of vegetarian food. “After months of torture, I finally got a breath of fresh air and the company of my family. My advice to job seekers abroad is to first contact the Indian Embassy, verify the company, and only then proceed,” he cautioned.
Sachin’s mother, Meena Devi, had lodged an FIR at Danapur police station against Dharmendra, Jitendra, and one Sunil Kumar Ram of Sitamarhi. She alleged that Dharmendra took ₹1.5 lakh from the family to send Sachin abroad. In her complaint, she said that after March 25, employees of SIHAY Group of Companies began torturing Sachin, seized his phone and passport, and demanded 3,000 USDT (United States Dollar Tether) for their return.
{{/usCountry}}Sachin’s mother, Meena Devi, had lodged an FIR at Danapur police station against Dharmendra, Jitendra, and one Sunil Kumar Ram of Sitamarhi. She alleged that Dharmendra took ₹1.5 lakh from the family to send Sachin abroad. In her complaint, she said that after March 25, employees of SIHAY Group of Companies began torturing Sachin, seized his phone and passport, and demanded 3,000 USDT (United States Dollar Tether) for their return.
{{/usCountry}}As the family was unfamiliar with cryptocurrency, Dharmendra later provided an Indian bank account in the name of a woman whose husband, Sunil Kumar, is a resident of Singrahia in Sitamarhi. Sachin’s younger brother, Shahil Singh, deposited ₹1.5 lakh in three instalments between April 18 and 19.
However, on April 25, Sachin was sold to another company. His last contact with his family came via WhatsApp on June 15, when he pleaded for help.
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Danapur police later arrested Sunil Kumar Ram, who was remanded to judicial custody. City SP (West) Bhanu Pratap Singh personally monitored the case, coordinating with the Indian Embassy, the Ministry of External Affairs, and enforcement agencies.
“In July, we were informed that Sachin had been rescued from a Myanmar cyber scam centre and placed in the custody of the Myanmar Army. On August 27, he landed in New Delhi and was handed over to his family,” the SP said.
Sachin claimed that more than 29,000 Indians, including 400 from the IT sector, are working under similar conditions in Myanmar. A group of 37 Indians, including six from Bihar, was airlifted on August 26.