NEW DELHI: Eight months ago, 22-year-old Ajay from Lucknow left after being offered a job in a call centre in Malaysia but was forced into a cyber fraud centre in Myanmar, where he continues to suffer torture and beatings, while his two friends have since returned to India.
The call centre is called JPark in Meghalahpo and is said to be very close (around 2 km) to the Thailand border.
"There are six Indian boys who are presently held up in that centre, while 72 of us who were shifted to another centre called Dongmae managed to return back to India. I have heard about Ajay being tortured and kept in a dark room for days on end, given electric shocks and kept without food. I wish he returns home safely as we had left together,’’ said 25-year-old Rahul who managed to return in September.
When Rahul returned he suffered from dengue and survived after undergoing treatment. TNIE had written about these three boys on July 14 this year.
Ajay's family is poor and cannot afford to pay the money that is being demanded for his release. At the same time they worry about his health and safety.
"He has been mercilessly beaten, kept in a dark room and given electric shocks. We have been writing to all the concerned officials continuously since we learnt of how he was trapped but its all been in vain until now. His old parents are waiting to see him oblivious of what he is going through,’’ Ram Janam, Ajay’s brother-in-law told this newspaper.
According to those boys who have returned these call centres are being illegally operated by the Chinese but the local Myanmar people assist them in ensuring that the boys don’t escape. Boys and girls of different nationalities have also ended up working in such calls centres.
Indian officials are continuously trying to ensure the safe return of those who are trapped. Access to the cyber centres becomes a hindrance at times, but officials say that they would work relentlessly till the last Indian returns to his homeland.