60 Indian nationals rescued from Cambodia return to India

Always committed to helping Indians abroad.

First batch of 60 Indian nationals rescued by Indian Embassy in Cambodia from fraudulent employers return home. Thank the Cambodian authorities for their support. @MOICambodia @IndianDiplomacy @MEAIndia @meaMADAD pic.twitter.com/8PwGnO59Kg

— India in Cambodia (@indembcam) May 23, 2024

The embassy in a previous post on X, disclosed that the Indian nationals were sent from SHV to Phnom Penh on Wednesday. “Embassy is assisting with travel documents & other arrangements for their early return home.”

60 🇮🇳 nationals have been rescued by the Embassy in cooperation with Sihanoukville(SHV)authority. These nationals, victims of fraudulent employment, were sent from SHV to PhnomPenh today. Embassy is assisting with travel documents & other arrangements for their early return home. https://t.co/S7Q3jmFlAw pic.twitter.com/2mDOeNJqxD

— India in Cambodia (@indembcam) May 22, 2024

Another press release from the embassy stated, “The Embassy has been issuing several Advisories to alert Indians seeking jobs in Cambodia cautioning them not to fall prey to unauthorized agents. Indian nationals have been cautioned to not indulge in practices contrary to the purpose for which the Visa is granted by the host government such as seeking employment on a ‘Tourist Visa’.”

Also Read: 300 trafficked Indians ‘revolt’ against handlers in Cambodia

Lured with jobs

The incident came to light as 300 Indians ‘revolted’ against their handlers in Cambodia on Monday, 20 May, leading to most of them being arrested in the foreign country.

Among the 300, about 150 people belonged from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. They have been stuck in Cambodia for a year already, where they are being coerced to carry out cybercrime and Ponzi scams by Chinese handlers, police said.

Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner A Ravi Shankar earlier noted that these trafficked Indians caused large-scale riots in Jinbei and Compound, Sihanoukville in Cambodia, which is allegedly a hub for cybercrime.

“Many people called up Visakha city police WhatsApp numbers and sent videos. On Monday, around 300 Indians ‘revolted’ in a large scale against their handlers in Cambodia,” said Shankar in a release.

On 18 May, Vizag police arrested Chukka Rajesh, S Kondala Rao and M Jnaneshwar Rao on human trafficking charges for luring youth from India with data entry jobs in Singapore but actually trafficking them to Cambodia to carry out cybercrimes.

Once in Cambodia, the youth would be held captive, tortured and compelled by Chinese handlers to execute scams such as task game fraud, stock market fraud and others, police said.

According to Visakhapatnam Joint Commissioner of Police Fakkeerappa Kaginelli, nearly 5,000 Indians were trafficked to Cambodia from across the country through various agents.

Kaginelli earlier told PTI that with the three arrested persons, 150 youths have been traced to Cambodia.