2 Delhi men booked for trafficking Uttarkashi youth to Myanmar scam centres

Dehradun: A case has been registered by the state cybercrime unit against two Delhi-based men for allegedly recruiting and trafficking a 22-year-old man from Uttarkashi to Myanmar, where he was held captive and forced to work at scam centres allegedly run by Chinese gangsters, police said on Sunday.Though the incident occurred in June last year, it came to light on Saturday after the victim, Yashpal Bisht, lodged a complaint against Keshav Bijalwan and Shivam. Bisht alleged that he was lured with a fake job offer in Thailand but was taken to Myanmar instead.SSP (STF) and state cybercrime unit Navneet Bhullar said, "Bijalwan contacted Bisht over the phone and later introduced him to Shivam, who allegedly asked him to pay around Rs 13,000 for airfare from Delhi to Bangkok. After flying to Bangkok in June, he was received at the airport by a local associate and taken to a hotel outside the city."He added, "The next day, he was taken to Myanmar without his knowledge and handed over, along with other Indian youths, to foreigners running a scam centre. At the centre, the victims were allegedly forced to create fake social media profiles to cheat people online. When they resisted, they were threatened and harassed."Bhullar also said that the victims managed to escape after their handlers fled the centre amid the ongoing civil war in the region. They took shelter at an NGO for about a month before returning to India nearly a month ago.The accused have been charged under BNS sections 111(4) (organised crime), 127(7) (wrongful confinement), and 143(3) (human trafficking), along with relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.