Beed Police Seek MEA and NIA Help to Rescue Graphic Designer Held Captive in Myanmar

The Beed police in Maharashtra have written to the Ministry of External Affairs and the National Investigation Agency seeking urgent intervention to rescue a 24-year-old graphic designer from Beed who has been held captive in Myanmar for over a month and forced to commit cyber crimes. The victim is reportedly trapped near the Myanmar-Thailand border along with nearly 700 other Indians, including 20 to 25 people from Maharashtra.

According to the police, the victim's ordeal began after he came across an advertisement on June 1 for data entry and graphic designing work in Bangkok, Thailand. On June 4, he left Pune for Bangkok. However, he was subsequently taken to an isolated location on the Myanmar-Thailand border, where his captors confiscated his passport.

The Beed cyber police registered a First Information Report on June 26 against unidentified agents and individuals based on a complaint filed by the victim's wife.

Beed Superintendent of Police Navneet Kanvat confirmed that the police have registered the case and alerted central agencies about the Beed native and the others stuck there. SP Kanvat noted that the victim had traveled to Myanmar on a tourist visa and started working there.

In her complaint, the victim's wife stated that her husband is forced to work 16 to 18 hours a day in cyber fraud. He is subjected to physical torture if he fails to meet his targets. The victim, who manages to speak to his family daily over the phone, also informed his wife that two or three people who tried to stand up to the captors were killed.

A Maharashtra police officer stated that while several Indians duped into working in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia have been rescued in recent years, people continue to fall prey to such scams. The officer appealed to youngsters to perform background checks on foreign employers, warning that legitimate companies do not employ individuals on tourist visas.

Following the incident, former Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde met with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, submitting a letter to request that the state government coordinate with the Central Government and the Ministry of External Affairs to secure the safe rescue of the youths.