THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A huge number of Keralites who travelled to five Southeast Asian countries between 2023 and 2024 have failed to return despite the expiry of their tourist visas, igniting apprehensions that many of them might have joined crime syndicates involved in cyber fraud.
Around 750 Keralites who went to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in the past one-and-a-half years are yet to return. Highly-placed sources in the police told TNIE that they suspect half of them could have joined cybercrime gangs in those nations.
It was upon detecting a rise in cyber fraud that targeted Keralites and originated from the five countries that the police’s cyber investigation wing and central agencies decided to prepare a database of people who went there on tourist visas but did not return.
After collecting the data, the state police chief, in an order on July 1, asked district police chiefs to verify the whereabouts of the missing people.
“It is possible that some of them might be living with their relatives abroad after their visas expired, while some might have moved to other countries. Even after discounting their numbers, we suspect at least 50% of the missing persons could have joined gangs. Hence, we have started verifying the current status of each of them. Legal action will be taken against those found working with criminal gangs. Measures to repatriate them will be initiated,” said a source.
120 repatriated recently
Around 120 Keralites involved in such rackets were repatriated from Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia in the last 18 months. Most of them worked in call centres, collecting details of potential victims from social media and enticing them into investing in fraudulent schemes