Myawaddy Gangs Trap Indians in Slavery

Through Thailand’s dense jungles via Mae Sot lies Myanmar’s Myawaddy — no ordinary city. Police agencies, Interpol and even the FBI have flagged it as dangerous. Once inside its buildings, release without paying money is almost impossible.

Myawaddy is a hub of fake call centre gangs. High walls and barbed wire surround its compounds — easy to enter, almost impossible to leave. In Hyderabad’s Usman Nagar, Nazia Ali has not heard her son Sajjad’s voice for 12 days.

“He called on January 15, whispering, ‘Ammi, I’ve been kidnapped. I don’t know if I’m in Thailand or Myanmar. I’m locked in a room. Two others from Hyderabad are here. There are other Indian boys and girls too. They make us work 18 hours a day. If we refuse, they beat us with sticks and iron rods. Ammi, this is my last call… please save me.’”

The Myawaddy region lies along the Thailand–Myanmar border and has been the subject of repeated disputes between the two countries.

Twenty-three-year-old Mir Sajjad Ali is among the 16 Indian youths who went to Bangkok last year after being promised high-profile jobs. Like thousands of others, he is now trapped in Myawaddy.

Dainik Bhaskar spoke to their families, who revealed that the Thailand-Myanmar border job racket is actually a targeted kidnapping network. Over the past three years, it has trapped more than 500 Indian youths, along with young people from China, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Scams in the name of jobs have long operated in the Myawaddy region, where most of these gangs are active.

Through Thailand’s dense jungle area Maesot, crossing the international border leads to Myanmar’s city, Myawaddy. This is no ordinary city – police from many countries, Interpol and America’s intelligence agency FBI have placed it on their list of dangerous cities. If you end up in any building in this city, release is impossible without paying money.

Myawaddy is a hub for gangs running fake call centers. As soon as you enter the city, there are buildings surrounded by 20-foot barbed wire fences, where going inside is possible but coming out is only possible with the gang’s permission. Nazia Ali from Hyderabad’s Usman Nagar has been yearning to hear her son Sajjad’s voice for the past 12 days.

Nazia says, ‘He called on January 15, speaking in a low voice saying – Mom I have been kidnapped. I don’t know where I am, Thailand or Myanmar. I am kept in a locked room. There are two more people from Hyderabad here. There are other Indian boys and girls too. They make us work for 18 hours. If we refuse, they beat us with sticks and iron rods. Mom this is my last call…please save me.’

The Myawaddy area is located on the Thailand-Myanmar border, which has been a subject of dispute between both countries multiple times.

23-year-old Mir Sajjad Ali is among the 16 Indian youths who went to Bangkok last year on the promise of high-profile jobs. Now they too are trapped in Myawaddy like thousands of others.

Dainik Bhaskar spoke with the families of these youths. The conversations revealed that this network, operating under the guise of job offers at the Thailand-Myanmar border, is actually a targeted kidnapping racket. It has victimized more than 500 Indian youths in the past 3 years. Young people from other Asian countries like China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam are also targets of this operation.

Job-offer scams have been prevalent in the Myawaddy area, where most gangs operate.

Offer of one lakh rupees salary and luxury villa accommodation
Usman Nagar locality is in the heart of Hyderabad city. Sajjad lived here with his mother Nazia Ali. Father Mir Ali works in Kuwait City. Due to poor financial condition of the family, Sajjad dropped out of college and started doing part-time work. In between, he was also searching for online jobs.

We met Sajjad’s cousin Mehdi Ali at home. He was the one who last facilitated Sajjad’s phone conversation with his mother Najia. Mehdi says, ‘Before going to Thailand, Sajjad had told about the job. He learned about this job through Instagram.’

‘After applying, he received a video call from the company. The officials there showed him a beautiful villa with a swimming pool and many amenities. He was told that this would be his working area. The company was offering a monthly salary of one lakh rupees.’

‘The only condition was that he had to come to Bangkok as soon as possible, otherwise someone else would be placed in this position. Sajjad didn’t tell his parents about the job. He just said that he was going out on vacation for a few days. After reaching Bangkok, he called his mother and told her that he got a job at a call center there.’

Mir Sajjad Ali from Hyderabad was working part-time from home when he got trapped in Myanmar after being lured by the promise of a high-paying job.

Last call came on January 15, said – I am trapped
Sajjad’s mother Nazia says, ‘I was very happy that my son got a job abroad. He told me that he had a digital sales executive job at a renowned call center in Bangkok. He got a luxury villa with swimming pool for accommodation. Work would be 6-8 hours a day and salary would be 1 lakh rupees every month.’

‘Last year in July after Muharram, Sajjad went to Bangkok from Hyderabad and hasn’t returned since. I tried hard to convince him to return, but he refused. He would show his office through video calls, saying everything is fine here. I will come home soon. After November, he also reduced making calls.’

‘In December he called once, but there was no communication after that. On January 15, Sajjad called for the last time. He was scared and told me that he was blindfolded and imprisoned in a large hall outside Thailand.’

According to Nazia, Sajjad was speaking in a very low voice due to fear. He told that 16 more people from India are being held captive at the place where he is imprisoned. The kidnappers make them work for 18-18 hours. If they refuse, they strip them and make videos, give electric shocks to their bodies. They beat them with iron rods and sticks.

Hostages are beaten if they refuse to work, and are sometimes subjected to electric shocks.

16 Indians held hostage in Myanmar, but no help received
Sajjad’s family is spending each day in tension. With father in Kuwait, mother Nazia met with the Ministry of External Affairs and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi to request safe return of her son. Considering the seriousness of the matter, Asaduddin Owaisi has spoken to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. He has appealed to the Ministry of External Affairs on ‘X’ for help in returning 16 Indians stranded in Myanmar.

Arshad and Sameer also trapped with Sajjad
Along with Sajjad, Arshad and Sameer Khan from Banjara Hills, Hyderabad are also held captive in Myanmar. Sameer used to work in an IT company in Hyderabad. Last year, he received a good job offer in Myanmar. He went there for joining and got trapped.

Sameer’s house is in the Moula Ali area. Here we met his mother Unisa. She is worried about her son’s safety. She refused to say anything on camera. When we asked the reason, she told us that the kidnappers had threatened. If she talks to media or police, they will beat and kill Sameer.

Unisa says off camera, ‘Kidnappers in Myanmar are making Sameer do online fraud work. Armed guards monitor him 24 hours a day. He is given new tasks every day. He is being physically tortured if he refuses. They have seized his passport and phone. With great difficulty, he managed to tell us about his condition using someone else’s phone.’

Karen militia organization soldiers monitor youths held hostage at call centers in the Myawaddy area.

According to Sameer’s family, he was promised a job in Thailand with a salary of 1500 dollars, but was taken hostage. The family doesn’t even have enough money to get him released. Worried for Sameer, his family doesn’t want his photo to appear in the media. However, the family is contacting the police and Ministry of External Affairs to secure his release.

Now let’s understand how this kidnapping network operates…

Myawaddy: A hub for turning youth into ‘cyber slaves’ in the name of jobs
Dainik Bhaskar contacted the Indian Embassy in Myanmar to learn about the condition of youth held captive. We received information about several Indians being held hostage in Myanmar. An embassy official said that people are being searched for. We have also contacted their families. Documents and necessary details of the youth have been requested. They are being searched based on that information.

The official said that cases of Indians being held hostage in Myanmar have increased in the past 3 years. More than 500 Indians have been held hostage since 2023. These targeted kidnapping gangs are active in areas along the Thailand-Myanmar border. Most cases are from the Myawaddy area, where people have been scammed in the name of jobs.

Last year in November, around 370 people from different countries were rescued from several call centers set up in Myawaddy town. Among them were 55 citizens of Andhra Pradesh, who were sent to India via 3 flights. One of them is 30-year-old Imran Ansari (changed name) from Visakhapatnam. Imran went to Myanmar in February 2025 and stayed there for about 10 months.

The Indian Embassy in Myanmar is continuously searching for people held hostage. Their families are also being contacted.

Story of an IT Engineer Trapped in Myanmar

Like Imran from Andhra Pradesh, more than 500 Indian IT professionals have been reduced to slavery in Myanmar, including 15 to 20 women. According to Imran, over 6,000 young people from different countries are being forced to work as “cyber slaves” in Myawaddy, a town near the Thailand border. They include people from India, Pakistan, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka and several Middle Eastern countries.

The Myawaddy area is filled with large compounds known as commercial parks, which house illegal call centres. Victims are brought here via Thailand and then forced into activities such as luring people on dating apps, cyber fraud and job scams.

How did you reach Myanmar, and which company hired you?

Imran says, “Before going to Myanmar, I worked at a private IT firm in Visakhapatnam. In December 2024, I came across Yang OKX Group in a job seekers’ Telegram group. The company claimed to be hiring IT professionals in Thailand and Myanmar on attractive salary packages.”

“I applied through a link on Telegram. After an interview on December 28, 2024, I was offered a salary of $1,200 a month. On February 12, 2025, I travelled to Thailand with four others.”

Imran adds, “I spent about 10 months in Myawaddy with 370 people. We were forced to commit online fraud through betting apps and to use fake female profiles on dating platforms. If targets were not met, they tied our hands with iron chains and beat us with sticks. Sometimes, they kept us hungry for days.”

“While in captivity, we had no freedom. We were allowed phone access for just one hour a week. During that time, I managed to contact my family through Instagram.”

“After my family contacted the Ministry of External Affairs and the case reached the media, it emerged that 55 more people from Andhra Pradesh were held hostage in Myanmar. In our case, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With the help of the PMO and the Myanmar Army, all 370 of us returned to Andhra Pradesh on November 21, 2025.”

Why is Myawaddy a hotspot for job-scam syndicates?

Retired Indian Army Lieutenant General Sanjay Kulkarni says, “In 2019, India and Myanmar signed a bilateral agreement to rescue victims of human trafficking and curb such syndicates. But it could not be implemented.”

“In 2021, the Myanmar military government’s control weakened in areas along the Thailand border. Militant groups such as the local Three Brothers Alliance and militia outfits gained dominance, causing the agreement to stall.”

“Because of the army’s limited reach in these border regions, Myawaddy and nearby areas have become notorious for human trafficking. Such syndicates are flourishing, often with support from China.”

High salaries are the biggest lure

Dr Dhananjay Tripathi, senior professor in the Department of International Relations at South Asian (SAARC) University, says, “The promise of high salaries is the biggest weapon of traffickers. In Thailand, young people are shown dreams of $2,000 to $5,000 IT jobs, but in reality, this is a cover for kidnapping and extortion.”

“Using facilities such as visa-on-arrival, youth from South Asian countries are first brought to Thailand, then illegally taken into Myanmar through forest routes near Mae Sot to Myawaddy, where they are forced into illegal activities.”

“After the 2021 military coup, unemployment in Myanmar rose sharply. Political instability strengthened criminal gangs, allowing cross-border fake job networks to flourish.”

500 Indians rescued between 2021 and 2025

In March 2023, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar raised the issue of human and drug trafficking with Myanmar’s Foreign Minister U Than Swe at the BIMSTEC summit and sought help for the early repatriation of Indian hostages.

The issue was also raised in the Lok Sabha in 2025. The Ministry of External Affairs said Indian officials were working to rescue those stranded in Bangkok and Myanmar. Between 2021 and November 2025, around 500 Indians were brought back home.
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