HYDERABAD/ KARIMNAGAR: Five persons from Karimnagar and Sircilla district, who were forcibly kept in confinement by the management of a casino owned by a Chinese businessman, were finally able to return on Thursday following swift action by Karimnagar police and officials of the Ministry of External Affairs.
Promising computer operator jobs at a casino, Indo-Arab Overseas Consultancy located in Gandhinagar had sent the victims — Shabaaz Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Saleem Mohammed from Karimnagar, and Hajibaba Syed and Naveed Abdul from Sircilla — to Cambodia. The consultancy sent them to another agent in Delhi, who took them to Bangkok by flight, and then boarded them on a bus to Cambodia.
Sold for $2,700
Their quest for jobs in the southeast Asian country turned into their worst nightmare when they discovered that the agent had sold them for $2,700 each to the casino management. For the next three days, after reaching Cambodia, the casino owner trained them to run cryptocurrency and credit card scams. When they refused to participate in criminal activity, they were harassed and kept in illegal confinement. “They demanded $3,000 each to let us leave the country,” said one of the victims.
In desperation, the youngsters called their family members and narrated their ordeal. On September 19, the family members of the victims filed a complaint with Karimnagar police. Subsequently, Karimnagar Commissioner of Police (CP) V Satyanarayana set up a Task Force to bring them back.
Meanwhile, BJP State president Bandi Sanjay also wrote a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs to ensure the safe return of the youngsters from his constituency. Speaking to the media, Satyanarayana said, “The casino management forced them to take part in their criminal activity, but they refused. Our teams immediately swung into action upon receiving their relatives’ complaints.”
The CP also lauded the task force team comprising ACP Ch Vijayasarathi and Circle Inspector K Srujan Reddy, who ensured their return. He also appealed to the youth who wanted to work in foreign countries to thoroughly check the credentials of consultancies and agents before accepting their offers.