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Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Gangs target Gujarat youth with fake jobs abroad, force them into digital slavery
SLUG: TRAFFICKED ACROSS BORDERS Ahmedabad: What began as a dream job offer abroad turned into a nightmare for a youth from the city, who fell victim to a cyberfraud and was trafficked across borders. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The victim's first-person account, now part of the cybercrime police investigation, reads like a crime thriller filled with deceit, conspiracy, and extortion. The victim recalled how a man named Abhishek Singh lured him with promises of safe employment in a Bangkok-based IT company called I-Tech. "I was working in I-Tech in Bangkok for the past seven months… there is no tension here, only simple data entry work," Singh assured, persuading him to book tickets for Thailand. On arrival at Bangkok airport, their ordeal began. A stranger guided him into a taxi where his passport was seized. Driven hundreds of kilometres away, he was lodged in hotels and constantly reassured by Singh. But soon, the assurances dissolved into fear. "You said the company was near Bangkok city, but we have already travelled nearly 400 km," the victim protested over WhatsApp. What awaited was shocking: confinement in a guarded compound near the Myanmar border, surrounded by armed men and forced to undergo "training" for online fraud. "We were told to call citizens of different countries and trick them into financial frauds," recalled the victims. When he refused, he was beaten, his phone confiscated, and locked up for five days. Later, the Chinese handler, identified as "Bulan," demanded a penalty of Rs 3.5 lakh for his release. Under duress, the victim's family arranged the payment and sent it through QR codes provided by the gang. Only after the money was transferred was he released and pushed across the border in a boat before finding his way back to Bangkok and eventually flying home. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Cybercrime officers said the case was part of a growing pattern where young Gujaratis are tricked into foreign job offers but end up enslaved by cyberfraud gangs run from Myanmar and other regions. "Young men from Gujarat are specifically targeted and confined to carry out online frauds. It is made to look like legitimate employment but is nothing more than digital slavery," a cybercrime officer explained. The ordeal left the victim scarred but determined to warn others. He secretly recorded videos during captivity, which later became crucial evidence. His words echo the constant threats he faced: "If you refuse to work, remember you have already crossed illegally into Myanmar. You will be treated as a criminal anyway."
India Gazette
06-06-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Productive discussions on connectivity, security, terrorism: Jaishankar at India-Central Asia Dialogue
New Delhi [India], June 6 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, chairing the 4th India-Central Asia Dialogue in Delhi on Thursday, reaffirmed India's commitment to deepening its strategic partnership with Central Asian nations, with a special focus on connectivity, security, and technological collaboration. The session brought together top diplomats from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, reflecting a growing determination to address shared regional challenges and opportunities. Following the meeting, Jaishankar posted on X, stating, 'Delighted to chair the 4th India-Central Asia Dialogue in Delhi this morning. Thank my Central Asian colleagues DPM & FM Murat Nurtleu, Deputy Chairman & FM Rashid Meredov, FM Zheenbek Kulubaev, FM Sirojiddin Muhriddin and FM Bakhtiyor Saidov for their assessments and views. Expressed India's appreciation on Central Asian partners condemning the heinous terrorist attack in Pahalgam. Held productive and wide-ranging discussions on themes of connectivity, regional security & terrorism, technology cooperation, development partnership and people-to-people exchanges. Confident that our deliberations today would lead to forging an even closer and deeper India-Central Asia partnership.' In his opening remarks at the Dialogue, Jaishankar thanked the Central Asian countries for their show of solidarity following the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam. 'I appreciate that your countries stood by India and condemned the heinous terrorist attack that took place in April in Pahalgam,' he said. The minister emphasised that this unity reflected the depth of mutual trust between India and its regional partners. He noted that India's ties with the region were rooted in a shared civilisational history. 'India deeply cherishes its millennia-old civilisational and cultural ties with Central Asia. These age-old bonds forged through trade, exchange of ideas, and people-to-people contacts have strengthened over time, evolving into a partnership which is defined by shared aspirations, shared opportunities and common challenges,' he said. Jaishankar recalled that India and Central Asia marked 30 years of contemporary diplomatic relations in 2022 and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landmark visits to all five Central Asian capitals in July 2015 had significantly boosted ties. He pointed out that the nature of engagement has evolved steadily, especially over the last decade, with enhanced trade, tourism, and educational exchanges. Improved connectivity through direct flights has spurred two-way movement of tourists and businesses. The presence of a large number of Indian students in Central Asian universities was also highlighted as a marker of growing people-to-people ties. Underscoring India's role as a reliable development partner, Jaishankar said that beyond the well-known I-Tech training slots and ICCR scholarships, India has been supporting high-impact community development projects. 'Such projects have included equipping schools with computers and providing hospitals with medical equipment,' he said. He further stressed the growing scope of engagement across sectors, noting that cooperation has expanded since the 2022 virtual summit, which brought the partnership to the leaders' level. Today, regular exchanges between trade ministers, culture ministers, and national security advisers have become hallmarks of this partnership, along with special training programmes for diplomats. Jaishankar also mentioned discussions held a day prior at the India Central Asia Business Council on deepening collaboration in digital technology, fintech, and inter-bank relations, to help overcome existing impediments and realise the full potential of economic cooperation. 'India and Central Asian partners are committed to advancing mutually beneficial cooperation across all sectors, particularly trade and investment, defence, agro processing, textiles, pharmaceuticals, regional connectivity, security, education, culture, people-to-people exchanges, as well as new and emerging technologies,' he said, expressing confidence that the day's deliberations would pave the way for a stronger, broader partnership. (ANI)
India Gazette
06-06-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
"Appreciate that your countries condemned Pahalgam terror attack," EAM Jaishankar says at 4th India-Central Asia Dialogue
New Delhi [India], June 6 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while delivering his opening remarks at the 4th India-Central Asia Dialogue, thanked the Central Asian countries for their support in condemning the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. 'I appreciate that your countries stood by India and condemned the heinous terrorist attack that took place in April in Pahalgam,' Jaishankar said. Jaishankar acknowledged that India's ties with Central Asian countries have evolved over several millennia. 'We have marked three decades of our contemporary diplomatic ties with our Central Asian partners in 2022. We have worked together and laid down the legal and institutional framework, which has provided the foundation to further our mutually beneficial cooperation with each other individually, as well as collectively. Our cooperation with Central Asian countries received a quantum boost with Prime Minister Modi's back-to-back visits to all five Central Asian capitals in July 2015,' he recounted. Jaishankar said that ties with these countries have evolved significantly from civilizational bonds. 'India deeply cherishes its millennia-old civilizational and cultural ties with Central Asia. These age-old bonds forged through trade, exchange of ideas, and people-to-people contacts have strengthened over time, evolving into a partnership which is defined by shared aspirations, shared opportunities and common challenges,' he said. He added that ties, especially in terms of trade, have improved in the last decade, and that Central Asian countries remain an attractive student destination to pursue higher studies. 'Trade, economic and investment ties between us have strengthened significantly over the last decade. Today, we have a well-connected by multiple direct flights, our enhanced connectivity facilitates greater two-way tourist flows and businesses. A large number of Indian students pursue a higher education in your countries, strengthening the bond between us,' he said. Jaishankar said that India remains a trusted development partner for the Central Asian nations. 'India remains a trusted development partner for all of you. Together with I-Tech training slots and ICCR scholarships, which are the most well-known forms of our development partnerships, we have also started providing High-Impact Community Development Projects as Indian grants for socio-economic development. Such projects have included equipping schools with computers and providing hospitals with medical equipment,' he said. 'It is our mutual recognition of the importance of India-Central Asia cooperation that we raised it to the leaders' level for the first time as a virtual summit in January 2022, which added more strands to our cooperation. Today, trade ministers, culture ministers, and NSAs exchange views on delegations and special training classes for diplomats are among the notable features of our relationship,' he said. Jaishankar further talked about their discussion that took place on Thursday on digital technology and fintech, which would potentially boost the existing relations in various areas. 'Yesterday, we had a fruitful discussion at the India Central Asia Business Council to remove impediments and add cooperation in digital technology, fintech, and inter-bank relations to the existing list of areas so that we can realise the full potential of our economic cooperation,' he said. Jaishankar said that both India and Central Asian partners are committed to advancing mutually beneficial cooperation across all sectors, and hoped that the deliberations would help strengthen these ties. 'India and Central Asian partners are committed to advancing mutually beneficial cooperation across all sectors, particularly trade and investment, defence, agro processing, textiles, pharmaceuticals, regional connectivity, security, education, culture, people-to-people exchanges, as well as new and emerging technologies. These areas will be on the agenda of our meeting today. I am sure that these deliberations would help us in forging even closer, deeper, stronger and wider partnership which would serve the interest of the people of our countries,' he said. (ANI)
