Mumbai: Victims recount horrifying 145-day ordeal in Laos

The Chinese mafia has been targeting Indian Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi nationals with highpaying jobs pushing them into slavery The recent rescue of Indians from Laos has unveiled one of the most organised networks operated by the Chinese mafia aiming to defraud US Canada and UK nationals through phishingMiDDay spoke with victims Amit Sunar and Siddharth Yadav who recounted a horrifying 145day ordeal in Laos from December 2022 to April 2023 The case came to light recently when they approached the police The duo revealed how they were forced to work more than 13 to 14 hours a day without breaks enduring threats of dire consequences or further sale to the drug mafia in exchange for cocaine In return for their freedom the mafia extorted money from their familiesFortunately some managed to contact the Indian Embassy which intervened and rescued them ldquoI work in the hotel management industry and a colleague suggested I meet Jerry Jacob and his associates for wellpaying jobs abroad They promised a call centre job in Thailandrdquo said Yadav 24 one of the victimsJerry Jacob and Godfrey Alvos in Crime Branch Unit 8rsquos custodyAccording to Yadav his documentation process took a week and he was swiftly sent to Laos ldquoI was asked to make a payment of Rs 50000 I paid around Rs 30000 To my surprise as soon as I paid the token amount the documentation process began To gain my trust they even gave me an offer letter sent me tickets to Thailand and suggested I would go beyond Thailand I sensed something was wrong but I ignored my gut instinct as I was lured by the offerrdquo Yadav addedldquoOn December 31 2022 I began to travel I boarded a flight to Thailand and then went to Laos via ship As soon as I reached Laos I met Jerry Jacob who asked for my passport which I handed over In Laos we were taken to the Golden Trianglerdquo Yadav saidTrained to commit fraudUpon arriving in Laos Yadav realised he wasnrsquot going to work in a call centre ldquoThe Chinese company trained us to commit cyber fraud We were expected to work for 1213 hours and they fined us if we didnrsquot meet their expectations sit upright or took a break beyond 5 minutes I requested Jerry to give me a different job or send me back to IndiaHe offered a different job but said returning to India would incur a heavy penaltyrdquo Yadav continuedldquoWe were instructed to create profiles on TikTok Facebook and WhatsApp and target highprofile individuals When we complained Jerry assigned us to a different companyrdquo added Amit Sunar 30 another victim ldquoJerry then assigned me to a different company where I spoke to customers and transferred calls to Chinese companies Despite getting training to have a foreign accent we werenrsquot paid and inhuman conditions persisted I decided to contact the Indian Embassy as I couldnrsquot bear the torturerdquo Yadav saidWhen Jerry learned of the victimsrsquo contact with the embassy he threatened them ldquoHe first tried to confiscate my phone but I refused citing private photos Four people contacted the embassy and we were threatened by Jerry He threatened to sell us and obtain cocaine in exchange However all four of us refused to withdraw the complaintrdquo Yadav addedldquoAfter learning of our contact with the Indian Embassy Jerry and Godfrey trapped us in a room seized our phones and threatened us Jerry grabbed my collar and threatened me saying lsquoJaan se mar dunga family members ko pata bhi nahi chalega Embassy kuch nahi kar payegirsquo The next day local police rescued us and presented us in the Labour Violence court after which we returned to Indiardquo said Amit SunarEmbassy rescuesThe embassy with the help of local police rescued four people from the office premises ldquoI was in constant touch with the Indian Embassy They told us not to worry A team of local police was sent to the building compound and they rescued us and took us to a safe spot Jerry took 10 days to return our passports to the embassy claiming they needed to be stampedrdquo Yadav saidldquoI called my family and asked them to arrange finances so I could return to India We went to Thailand and then back to India Upon reaching my country I felt relieved to be rescued However many people remain trapped there The Chinese company and Jerry mentally torture people If you get scared theyrsquoll frighten you more I was contacted by Crime Branch officials and my statement was recorded An FIR has been registered and I didnrsquot hesitate to come forward and record a statement as they should be punishedrdquo Yadav addedldquoWe were provided with facilities in the complex including good food and a bar but I felt trapped in jail due to inhuman conditions Despite working long hours we only got Sundays off but we couldnrsquot leave the complex without passports Jerry and Godfrey were verbally abusive Those 145 days were dreadful and continue to haunt merdquo Sunar addedDuo arrestedAccording to Crime Branch Unit 8 Jerry Jacob 49 and Godfrey Alvos 39 were arrested in this matter ldquoBoth alleged accused are Indian nationals and we arrested them based on intelligence inputs We received a tip that Jerry would fly back to India and we apprehended him immediatelyrdquo said an officerThe police suspect the duo received heavy commissions for sending people to the country ldquoWe are investigating whether both accused have transaction history or a criminal record Wersquore also probing for any other individuals involvedrdquo a police officer said The duo has been booked under sections 370 trafficking 420 cheating 506 criminal intimidation 34 common intention and other relevant sections of the IPCThe MEA had issued a press release in March this year which stated ldquoCollaborating closely with Cambodian authorities it has rescued and repatriated about 250 Indiansrdquo ldquoOur Embassy in Cambodia has been promptly responding to complaints from Indian nationals who were lured with employment opportunities to that country but were forced to undertake illegal cyber workrdquoSeveral advisories had also been issued by the Ministry and the Embassy of India in Cambodia to our nationals about such scams We remain committed to helping all those Indian nationals in Cambodia who seek our supportrdquo5 minutesTime they were allowed to take a break for13 14 hrsNo of hours they were forced to work