The Mumbai police received information about at least three city residents allegedly being held captive in Myanmar after they were lured to Thailand with offers of jobs in the Information Technology sector, a senior official said.
After one of them managed to contact his friend in Mumbai who approached the police, the crime branch registered a First Information Report against unidentified persons, the official said on Saturday.
The victims were promised IT sector jobs in Thailand by an agent, he said.
After they landed in Thailand, they were taken to neighbouring Myanmar where they have been held against their wishes, as per the complaint filed by their friend.
They are being forced to do jobs which involve cyber crimes, the complaint said.
More than 70 people from Mumbai region are reportedly stuck in Myanmar as per the complainant, but police have so far information about only these three persons who are allegedly being held captive, the police official said.
The ministry of external affairs on Saturday advised Indian nationals to verify the credentials of foreign employers and antecedents of recruiting agents in view of many Indians having been lured to Myanmar.
"....IT-skilled youth are being duped in the name of lucrative data entry jobs in Thailand through social media advertisements as well as by Dubai and India-based agents," it said in an advisory.
The victims are reportedly taken across the border illegally, mostly into Myanmar, and held captive to work under harsh conditions, it said.
The Indian embassy in Myanmar recently rescued more than 30 Indians out of 60 who were trapped in that country's Myawaddy area.
Myawaddy area in south-eastern Myanmar's Kayin state bordering Thailand is not fully under the control of the Myanmarese government as certain ethnic armed groups hold sway over it.
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