Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Mar 11: A 26-year-old man from Srinagar’s Fateh Kadal area, Faizan Rasool, has been held hostage by human traffickers in Myanmar after being lured by a fake online job offer.
His captors are demanding Rs.4.5 lakh for his release, a sum his family cannot afford, leaving them in distress and pleading for government intervention.
Faizan’s journey began in December when he was lured by a fake online job offer promising employment in Thailand. Instead, he was smuggled into Myanmar’s Myawaddy region, a known hub for forced labour and organized crime.
His father, Ghulam Rasool Bhat, last spoke to him on January 21. Since then, there has been only silence. “He called me from Bangkok and said they were waiting for their next destination. He mentioned a boat journey ahead. After that, we lost contact,” he said.
Faizan’s mother, holding an old photograph of her son, broke down. “I begged him not to go. I told him to come back when he reached Delhi, but his father encouraged him to chase his dreams,” she said. Now, those dreams have turned into a nightmare.
Faizan is among thousands of Indians trapped in a dangerous web of trafficking. Official data reveals that nearly 25,000 Indians have fallen victim to similar scams, with 2,050 rescued so far, including 11 from Kashmir.
The traffickers’ modus operandi is alarmingly simple. They advertise lucrative jobs in Thailand, targeting young men desperate for employment. Once the victims arrive, they are taken on a staged journey-often through a mix of buses, boats, and clandestine border crossings-before finding themselves trapped in Myanmar. Families are then contacted for ransom payments, and those who cannot pay remain captive, often forced into illegal labour.
The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) has stepped in, writing to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, urging immediate action. “Faizan’s case is not unique, but it is urgent. If we don’t act now, he may never come back,” Nasir Khuehami, National Convenor of JKSA, said.
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