3 men trapped in Myanmar illegal job racket rescued: Trichy MP

Trichy: Three men from Virudhunagar and Tuticorin districts who were trapped in an illegal job racket in Myanmar were repatriated with their family members through the intervention of the Union external affairs ministry, Trichy MP Durai Vaiko informed on Tuesday. The rescued men said that they lost around 6 lakh each in the job fraud and were initially promised employment in BPO centres but were forced to indulge in organised cyber scams.Chithirai Selvakumar, 20, a native of Tuticorin district and son of a salt pan worker, said that he approached an agent through an advertisement on social media platforms. "I am not a graduate, yet the agency was cordial and promised a monthly salary of 70,000. Soon after we landed in Thailand, several groups trafficked us to Myanmar in different vehicles. We were beaten, tortured, and threatened to commit cybercrimes," Selvakumar said.Along with B Madanraj and B Naveenkumar, Selvakumar was recruited by a Thanjavur-based agent during Oct-Nov 2025 reportedly for BPO jobs in Cambodia and Thailand but was confined illegally at a Myanmar Border Guard Force (BGF) camp at Myawaddy, Myanmar. "Through external affairs minister S Jaishankar and senior ministry officials, we managed to locate them in Myanmar in Dec 2025. Youths must avoid travelling to Myanmar even for tourism purposes. More awareness is needed to prevent youngsters from falling for fake job rackets abroad," Durai Vaiko said. Ransoms were paid to the illegal employers in Myanmar by families to rescue the men.The Trichy MP also said that Kishore Saravanan, a Cuddalore youth studying medicine in Russia who was forcibly enlisted in the Russia-Ukraine combat, was rescued and brought back to his college hostel. Kishore's family claimed that he was framed in a case and was persuaded to fight in the war to evade punishments and get Russian citizenship."Two weeks back he was relieved from the combat zone. The family insisted he return to India immediately, but he is keen on completing his medical education. He will be repatriated soon. It is a great relief to rescue these youths," Durai Vaiko said.