The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan
Two Keralites who were being held captive in Thailand by a gang have been freed as the state government has already taken action to that effect, according to an announcement made by the Chief Minister of Kerala before the legislative assembly on June 26th.
A legislator from Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) drew attention to this issue concerning Suhaib and Safeer, residents of Vallikappatta in Malappuram district. They traveled to Thailand from Dubai after receiving information about a job opportunity there at an international call center through a recruitment agent and underwent an online interview. Prospective employers paid for their flight tickets to Thailand as well.
On May 22nd, these youths arrived at Thailand where they met with their bosses who turned out to be members of armed gangs that forced them into online financial fraud acts such as hacking bank accounts.
One escaped secretly by using his phone line via mobile telephone. In addition, many other youngsters just like them from India including even Kerala had similar problems with their kidnappers completely cutting them off from the rest of the world.
To save the kids, Mr Vijayan said that Government had already called upon External Affairs ministry and Indian Embassy in Thailand. He further stated that State police boss was given instructions by the government to arrest syndicates which are luring IT skilled youth foremost data entry operators with lucrative jobs in foreign countries.
