Promised jobs in Spain, sent to Thailand. Then came ‘Khan Baba’ call
In less than a year, at least 11 such cases have emerged from Punjab. The kin of the kidnapped youths say they had to pay Rs 15-70 lakh to secure their release. Those who could not pay have ended up in jails, reportedly on trumped-up charges
The cases of Mandeep (left) and Kulraj (right) are not isolated. In the last 11 months, several cases of a similar nature have emerged from Punjab. (Special Arrangement Photos/Enhanced using AI) Manpreet Singh, 24, used to do odd jobs in his native village of Gill in Punjab’s Kapurthala district. Some 25 km away, 27-year-old Kulraj Singh from Manak village in Jalandhar tehsil worked as a truck driver.
A local travel agent approached them, separately, with the promise of jobs in Spain’s hospitality industry. They found it reassuring that the agent was not interested in any payment. “You first reach Spain and then pay as you earn,” they were told.
On June 30 this year, they left. But instead of Spain, the two say they found themselves in Thailand.
Then came calls reportedly to their family members from a man who identified himself as “Khan Baba”. They were asked to pay Rs 15 lakh each for the release of Manpreet and Kulraj. While Mandeep’s family managed to pay up, ensuring his return home, Kulraj’s family says it could not arrange the full amount.
Kulraj is now in a jail in Thailand after a “wrong tip-off” against him by his alleged kidnappers, they say.
The cases of Mandeep and Kulraj are not isolated. In the last 11 months, several cases of a similar nature have emerged from Punjab.
The young men were promised employment in Spain, Australia and South Korea, but ended up in Thailand, Iran, Ethiopia and Kenya, lured by different agents and taken via different routes.
All the families told police they received calls from “Khan Baba”.
The internet cafe of alleged agent Sanjeev Kumar. (Special Arrangement)
Modest backgrounds, big dreams
All the men who were targeted belong to modest families, and were working as drivers, barbers, petrol-pump workers or daily-wage labourers. Their families say they had to borrow money or sell valuables to raise Rs 15 lakh-Rs 70 lakh to secure their release.
Senior police officers told The Indian Express they were examining the call recordings submitted by the families of them talking to “Khan Baba” to try and trace him, but have had few leads so far.
Kapurthala SSP Gaurav Toora says the complaints were being examined on a case-by-case basis.
Sant Balbir Seechewal, a Rajya Sabha MP of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, says he recently wrote to the External Affairs Ministry, Union Home Ministry and Punjab DGP, and sought Interpol assistance in the matter.
In the case of both Mandeep and Kulraj, a local agent, Sanjeev Kumar, helped facilitate their travel, and has been named in a police complaint. Sanjeev admits making the arrangements, but points out that he did not take any money. He blames one Sumrit Kumar, originally from Phagwara in Punjab but now based in Malaysia. According to Sanjeev, Sumrit arranged to send people to Europe, and he trusted him.
Kulraj’s family back home. (Special Arrangement Photo)
“Sumrit told me that the youths would travel to Thailand first, and obtain their Spain visas later. After that, the families (of Kulraj and Mandeep) were directed to a person in Amritsar, who collected the money to give to Sumrit in cryptocurrency,” Sanjeev tells The Indian Express, adding that he was ready to cooperate with police.
In her police complaint, Kulraj’s mother Kuldeep Kaur has named Sumrit, his mother and his sister Komal, besides Sanjeev.
Kuldeep says she went all the way to Sumrit’s house last month along with her daughter-in-law and Sanjeev when she got a call from Komal, saying, “Paise denge padenge (you will have to pay up).”
Police say they have questioned Sanjeev and recorded his statement. When asked why he has not been arrested, SSP Toora says investigation is underway.
Kulraj’s family members say they were asked to pay Rs 15 lakh but they could not pay beyond the initial Rs 8 lakh. Soon after, he was arrested.
Promised Australia, sent to Iran
The first case, as per police, was reported in October 2025, when Ajay Singh of Sultanpur Lodhi was promised a job in Australia by a Tarn Taran-based agent. He reportedly left India via Kolkata, reached Dubai and then lost all contact with family.
His kin allege that soon after, they received a video showing him and others being assaulted and telling them that he was in captivity in Iran. A demand of around Rs 70 lakh was made, the family says. “We paid the money in instalments, to a person in Amritsar,” a relative says, adding that the money was later moved as cryptocurrency.
On December 5, 2025, Ajay finally reached home.
Police say they have spoken to Ajay and his family members who said they are in talks with their agent who promised to return the money following which they will withdraw the complaint.
Promised South Korea, taken to Ethiopia
In another case, Harbans Singh, a barber from Fatehgarh Sahib, was promised a job in South Korea. He left Delhi in March this year, but instead of South Korea, found himself in Ethiopia.
His family claims they received videos showing him being beaten up, and a call from “Khan Baba”. The demand in his case reportedly was Rs 25 lakh. The family says it paid Rs 15 lakh, after which Harbans was released.
“As instructed by Khan Baba, we handed over money to different persons in Chandigarh and Patiala,” his wife Sanjeevan Kaur says.
A police official says the agent is in Japan right now and will be questioned once he is back. “We have registered the FIR,” the official adds.
Back to the safety of his home, Harban says he cannot forget the 26 days he spent in captivity in Ethiopia.
“I thought I would never see my wife and children again.”
He says his captors subjected him to “brutal torture” to force his family to arrange ransom money. “They would beat me with sticks and iron rods. Sometimes they would place iron objects between my legs…”
Food, he says, was barely enough to survive. “Most of the time, we were given potatoes and roasted rice…”
Harbans says the men, associated with “Khan Baba”, would put a pistol to his head while making calls to his family to demand money. “Those 26 days were the most frightening days of my life.”
Another man reportedly sent to Ethiopia is Rohit Kumar from Fazilka district. In March, he travelled through Bangkok, Sharjah and Dubai before reaching the African nation. According to his family, he was promised a job in South Korea.
His family claims they paid around Rs 30 lakh to secure his return.
“As Khan Baba instructed us, we paid the first instalment of Rs 10 lakh, followed by three more tranches to his men in Nainital. “The final payment was made on April 20, after which Rohit was released,” his uncle Ashok Kumar says.
An FIR was registered in Uttarakhand against several persons.
“Even today, I have nightmares,” Rohit tells The Indian Express.
Rohit says he left Delhi on March 3 and was first taken to Thailand. There, he was put in a room with two other youths from Punjab. “We were told that our flight to Sharjah was the next day,” he recalls.
From Sharjah, they were taken to Dubai and then Ethiopia on March 5.
Rohit says the Indian agent who had arranged their journey had told them that they would spend a day in Ethiopia before being taken to their final destination.
“We trusted the agent.”
Three people, including a woman, came to pick them up from the Addis Ababa airport and took them to Shashemene city.
There, Rohit found himself in the company of other youths like him. “Around five or six were from Punjab, some were from Jammu and the remaining were from Haryana,” he says.
Rohit says the captors stripped the youths down to their underwear, tied their hands, and threw them in a room.
“Whenever we wanted to use the washroom, they would loosen our hands a little,” he says.
Like Harbans, Rohit also recalls how he was almost starved.
“They used to give us potatoes. Sometimes, not even that,” Rohit says, adding the captors regularly assaulted them with rods.
“If we tried to speak to each other, they would beat us more,” says Rohit. “I still have injuries on my back.”
He spent March 5 to March 24 in captivity.
Pakistan link?
Rohit believes that the people who held them captive were part of a wider network involving agents operating from Punjab, Delhi and Pakistan.
Like other men from Punjab, Rohit’s family also got calls from “Khan Baba’s” men.
The families of five other youths — two each from Tarn Taran and Pathankot, and one from Phillaur — told The Indian Express they returned after their families paid large sums to secure their release.
Like Kulraj of Jalandhar, Ram Balak of Phagwara remains far away from the safety of his family home.
Promised South Korea, he was taken to Thailand earlier this year. On July 29, after a raid by the Thai police, he was arrested along with his alleged kidnappers.
“We are poor people who got trapped. I have written to the External Affairs Minister. I just want him back home safely,” says his brother Rajkumar.
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