 "270 Indians freed from Myanmar scam centres return home, authorities probe recruitment racket")
At least 270 Indian nationals were flown back home from Thailand on Thursday following a dramatic escape from cyber scam compounds in Myawaddy, Myanmar. What seems to be India’s most complex international rescue operations included 26 women as well.
Over the years, Myanmar has become one of the most infamous countries in the region, hosting organised transnational fraud networks. The rescue operation was coordinated by the Indian embassies in Thailand and Myanmar and executed with the Indian Air Force’s two special flights from Chiang Mai to Hindon.
It marks one of the largest single-day repatriations linked to cybercrime trafficking in Asia. However, things don’t end here for those who have been rescued.
Indian officials have confirmed that the returnees will be questioned about their activities while employed in Myanmar’s scam centres. The interrogation will be conducted in an effort to understand how these criminal operations recruit victims, function and continue to maintain cross-border networks.
Probe continues
Cyber security officials told The Hindu that the probe in the case would continue. “Indian citizens who worked in the cyberscam compounds of Myanmar will be questioned about their activities during their employment period,” official sources told The Hindu on Thursday.
Sources maintained that the aim of the investigation is not punitive but preventive. “The idea behind the questioning is not just about finding out how these scam centres operate but also to find out how to prevent similar people from joining such transnational networks,” an official familiar with the process told The Hindu.
Investigators would also examine the possibility of Indian accomplices and recruiting agents who lured victims with fake job offers abroad, a pattern increasingly visible across Southeast Asia’s shadow digital economy.
Quick Reads
View AllThe Indian nationals who came back were among hundreds of people who have been trapped in sophisticated cyber scam centres in Myawaddy, a frontier town run by criminal syndicates with Chinese links. Victims were coerced into carrying out ‘pig-butchering’ scams, large-scale online frauds blending crypto, romance, and investment scams. The scammers have been targeting victims across the United States, Europe and India.
Workers stuck in these scam centres have faced inhuman conditions, including restricted movement, long work hours, and physical abuse if they failed to meet scam targets, according to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials. The torture only ended after Myanmar’s Junta launched an operation in late October to reclaim control over Myawaddy, forcing many scam operators to flee. The chaos eventually allowed hundreds, including Indians, to escape across the Moei River into Thailand’s Mae Sot, where they sought refuge before India intervened.
In light of this, the Indian embassy in Bangkok confirmed that while 270 nationals have been brought back, more remain stranded in Myanmar’s cybercrime sector.
“Indian embassies in Thailand and Myanmar are working with the respective host governments to secure repatriation of those Indians who were allegedly involved in scamming activities and are still in Myanmar,” the embassy said in a statement on November 6.
It also issued a strong advisory urging Indian citizens to verify foreign job offers and recruitment agents before accepting employment overseas. Apart from this, the embassy reminded the travellers that visa-free entry into Thailand is meant only for tourism or short business visits, and “should not be misused for taking up employment.”
With inputs from agencies.
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