Six-figure salary, “including room and board” – For Tushar Ranpara, 26, a blue-collar worker at a Dubai hotel, a job offer in Thailand means all his dreams of a better life will come true. However, what happened after Ranpara arrived in Thailand was nothing but a nightmare that lasted for a year. Before he knew it, Ranpara was smuggled into Myanmar, where he was held hostage and subjected to brutal physical torture because the promised “call center job” was actually a front for a cybercrime network run by the Chinese mafia that defrauded unsuspecting people.
On Thursday, a Vadodara resident returned home to an emotional welcome from his parents and sister, struggling to come to terms with the fact that his ordeal was finally over. Ranpara, who was held incommunicado for more than six months after the kidnappers took his phone, was among 197 Indian nationals repatriated by the Indian government from Thailand on board two military aircraft. This was the second batch of Indians to be repatriated since the October 22 raid in the “scam town” of Myawaddy in Myanmar.
“Among the lucky few who escaped.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Ranpara said: “It feels surreal… I don’t know what I will do next, but I realize that I am among the lucky few who managed to escape while many others are still trapped and being tortured.”
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The ordeal began in September 2024 when he decided to ‘accept the offer’ of a Kerala-based agent in Dubai and move to Thailand. “After I expressed interest in the job offer, a group of Chinese men interviewed me via video and said I was selected. The agent then arranged for me to fly to Thailand from Dubai via Hyderabad. When I landed in Thailand, a car was sent to pick me up from the airport,” he said, adding that the flight was ostensibly to another city in Thailand.
“Little did I know that I would be taken on a nine-hour flight to Myawaddy in Myanmar,” Ranpara recalls. “I was interviewed again and asked to undergo training for two months… I had to sign a contract with a clause stating that I would have to pay US$5,000 if I decided to leave in less than a year…” Ranpara recalls.
The passport has been surrendered, and there is no way to escape
Within the first five days, he realized it was a trap. The training included operating social media apps like Facebook and Instagram as well as dating apps where Ranpara was given the identity of a woman to search for potential cyber victims – non-resident Indians who were well settled in the US.
“The brief was clear. They asked me to pose as a woman and taught me how to search for potential targets… They had to be Indian men over the age of 40 and residing in the US for more than 10 years. I simply had to send them friend requests via apps, and if accepted, I had to comment on their posts and photos… As the connections increased, they would post real women or AI-generated calls with female voices to lure men into investment scams and phishing traps.” He said.
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He said that the Chinese mafia uses its own applications to lure victims into depositing huge sums of money for “investment” or in “Bitcoin” using the method of showing profits in the initial period before withdrawing large investments to their accounts. He added: “Since my passport had been given to them, I had no way to escape…”
Attempts to contact the embassy were to no avail
Ranpara said that although he acquired the skill within a few days, he feigned ignorance to gain time and continued to undergo training for the mandatory period of two months. “I tried sending emails to the Indian Embassy (in Myanmar) but did not receive any response… They paid me around Rs 28,000 initially, but when I refused to continue working, I was first sold to another Chinese gang operating from KK Park for US$5,000 and after that they did not pay me any money…”
He was physically tortured and threatened with being shot dead by the Mafia’s private army. Ranpara, who arrived in India penniless, added: “The second handlers were brutal. They would physically punish me if anyone refused to follow orders… For several days, I was locked in a black room without food to be subjected to psychological torture. Then they hung me upside down for 15 days straight. This happened twice. My phones were already taken, so there was no way for me to contact my family back home… I completely lost my will.” His father, Nagar Ranpara, arranged bus tickets so that he could travel from Delhi to Vadodara on Thursday.
Raid, escape and detention in Thailand
Then, on October 22 this year, the military conducted a large-scale raid on a cybercrime center at KK Park in Myawaddy. Ranbara said: “The entire city of Myawaddy is like a Chinese cybercrime empire. They even have an army and there is no way to escape. When the raid happened, there was panic and the Chinese workers pulled us out and locked each of us in hidden rooms… However, about four or five groups managed to break down the door of our room and started running…”
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“We also stormed the locker rooms and some of us managed to get our passports back,” he said. “We ran for about 25 kilometers before we reached the Myanmar-Thailand border, where the Myanmar army allowed us to cross into Thailand… One has to cross a river by boat to get to Thailand.”
Once in Thailand, the escapees were detained in a detention center near Mae Sot, where Thai officials asked them to pay a fine of 4,000 Thai baht or go to prison for eight days. “I had to go to prison because I had no money… So, I stayed in prison from October 30 to November 7. By then, the Indian embassy in Bangkok had arrived to help us return to India.”
“I don’t want to go to any other country again.”
Ranpara, who broke down when he saw his family again, said he would never think about working abroad again. He added: “I don’t want to go to any other country… even Dubai, where I was a legal officer. This ordeal has taught me a big lesson. I want to tell anyone who is tempted by big promises or looking for great opportunities to make quick money abroad that it is dangerous…”
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As for his family, they will be at ease. While mother Rita could not hold back her tears, his father Nagar thanked the Indian embassy for bringing his son back. Ranpara said he was glad he got a second chance. “I want to thank everyone who helped us in this matter. While many people, including Indians, are also working with the Chinese cyber mafia of their own volition, I hope that those who have been trafficked and trapped will be rescued soon just like me. As for my future, I will let it sink in that I am safe and free… After that, I will pick up the pieces of my life in India and start again.”
In the first week of November, 270 Indian nationals were repatriated from Thailand in a similar manner. They were among nearly 1,500 people who crossed into Thailand from the KK Park center in Myawaddy after the raids.
(tags for translation) Cybercrime in Myanmar
