LUCKNOW: What began as a promise of a better future turned into a horrifying ordeal for Sultan Salahuddin Rabbani and Sadiq Mirza, residents of Lucknow's Madeyganj area.
Lured by agents offering lucrative data entry jobs in Bangkok, they found themselves trapped in Myanmar, with passports confiscated and their lives controlled by cyber criminals. Their nightmare began when they responded to job offers from ‘recruitment agents' Javed Iqbal, Mohammad Ahmed Khan and Zeeshan Khan. Expecting data entry roles in Bangkok, they were instead trafficked to Myanmar. Upon arrival, their captors seized their passports and coerced them into participating in elaborate cyber scams, police said.
Their ordeal ended after Myanmar, Thailand and Chinese military forces launched a coordinated rescue mission to locate missing individuals. Among the 540 Indians rescued during the operation were 38 victims from UP, including Rabbani and Mirza, who returned home on Mar 11. Thereafter, police arrested the accused — Javed Iqbal, Mohammad Ahmed Khan and Zeeshan Khan — on Tuesday. Zeeshan, identified as a 36-year-old resident of Lucknow's Chowk area, was arrested by a joint team from the cybercrime cell and Madeyganj police. Authorities also seized four smartphones, two passports, three ATM cards, 22 cheque books and passbooks, and one SIM card from his possession.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that their associate, Raffaq Rahi, an HR professional in a Myanmar-based company, played a key role in orchestrating the operation. Rahi directed the agents to lure individuals with job offers in Thailand. Upon arrival in Bangkok, victims were transported to Myanmar, where their passports were seized, police said. "The accused revealed that they earned $500 per individual sent to Myanmar. Victims seeking to return home were coerced into paying Rs 3 lakh for their release, which Rahi would arrange. The group also operated a sophisticated financial network, purchasing bank accounts across various cities. Funds collected through cyber scams were converted into USDT (a digital currency) via platforms like Ethereum and Tron, which were then transferred to digital wallets managed by their foreign associates," said ADCP, central zone, Manisha Singh.
Singh said Javed Iqbal has two criminal cases registered at the Vibhuti Khand and Wazirganj police stations.
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