3 min readNew DelhiFeb 5, 2026 09:04 AM IST
First published on: Feb 5, 2026 at 09:03 AM IST
Promising high-paying jobs in Thailand, conducting interviews over Telegram, and arranging travel to Bangkok — this is how two men from Rajasthan were trafficked to Myanmar and forced into cyber fraud operations, the Central Bureau of Investigation has alleged in a chargesheet filed in a Delhi court.
According to the CBI, accused Soyal Akhtar duped Akram Ali Bhati and Soyal under the pretext of lucrative employment in Thailand. The agency said Akhtar conducted job interviews on Telegram and arranged their travel to Bangkok, after assuring them that expenses would be reimbursed once they joined work.
The victims arrived in Bangkok on October 7 from where they were allegedly taken to Myanmar. There, the CBI said, their mobile phones were seized, communications wiped out and confined to the so-called “scam compounds”. They were allegedly forced to create fake social media profiles and cheat foreign nationals through online scams.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Jyoti Maheshwari of Rouse Avenue Court took cognizance of the chargesheet on Tuesday and summoned Akhtar to appear before the court on February 17.
“The clear involvement of accused Soyal Akhtar has surfaced in the offence of trafficking of victims, namely, Shri Akram Ali Bhati and Shri Soyal,” the Judge said in her order dated February 3.
The CBI, represented in court by Public Prosecutors Anoop Kumar and Saloni, also told the court that as per the Ministry of External Affairs, Akhtar had not been issued any Registration Certificate by the concerned Protector General of Emigrants (PGE), mandatory for recruiting agents under Section 10 of the Emigration Act.
Akhtar is currently in judicial custody and his bail was rejected by the court on January 23.
As per the CBI, the two were subjected to unlawful confinement, physical and mental torture, and constant surveillance, until they were brought back to India in late October last year.
The two were among a large group of unsuspecting Indian nationals who were confined to “scam compounds” situated in Myanmar where serious cyber crimes, including digital arrest, romance frauds, and investment frauds were taking place, according to the CBI.
Victims from South Asian countries are allegedly lured by promising lucrative IT or data entry job offers in Thailand with monthly salaries ranging from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh. They are then allegedly ferried to the borders of Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. Between January 2022 and May 2024, over 70,000 Indian job seekers travelled to these countries. The Indian government acted swiftly and managed to bring back over 1,500 Indians from these countries.
As reported earlier by The Indian Express, the repatriation of about 20,000 Indians is still underway. Police in Gujarat and Haryana have also registered cases and arrested individuals allegedly involved in a similar racket that trafficked job seekers into cyber slavery operations in Myanmar.
Victims from South Asian countries are allegedly lured by promising lucrative IT or data entry job offers in Thailand with monthly salaries ranging from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh. (File Photo) 
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