Indian investigating agencies questioned the Indian nationals who were brought back home from Thailand from a notorious scam centre in Myanmar following a crackdown
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NEW DELHI — Indian investigating agencies questioned the Indian nationals who were brought back home from Thailand, days after they fled to the Thai border town of Mae Sot from a notorious scam centre in Myanmar following a crackdown, government sources said on Sunday.
The 270 Indian nationals, including 26 women, were brought back from Thailand in two C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Thursday.
The Indians were made to pay a fine by Thai authorities as they crossed over to Thailand illegally from Myanmar's Myawaddy town, the sources said.
The Thai immigration authorities also seized electronic gadgets, mobile phones and multiple passports of several countries from many Indian nationals, they said.
The sources said the Indians had tried to conceal these items before boarding the two IAF aircraft, but the immigration authorities, following thorough checks, recovered them.
The Indian probe agencies questioned the Indians to identify if they were involved in the online scams operated from KK Park cyber scam centre in Myawaddy.
India is also in the process of bringing back around 200 more Indians from Mae Sot, they said, noting that these nationals will also be subjected to questioning by the probe agencies after their return to India.
The sources said about 465 Indians had crossed over illegally to the Thai border town between October 23 and 30.
The first batch of Indian nationals was taken to the Andamans in two C-130J aircraft. From Andaman and Nicobar Islands, they were brought to New Delhi in a IL (Ilyushin)-76 aircraft, the sources said.
The Indian embassy in Bangkok and the consulate in Chiang Mai coordinated with agencies of the Thai government to facilitate the repatriation.
The Indian nationals were among 1,500 people from 28 countries who crossed over to Thailand following the raid on the cybercrime hub of KK Park.
Indian embassies in Thailand and Myanmar are working with the respective host governments to secure the repatriation of the Indians who were allegedly involved in scamming activities and are still in Myanmar.
The scam centres in Myanmar are involved in transnational cyber scams.
According to a UN report, hundreds of trafficked individuals of various nationalities were forced to carry out fraud in the centres. Similar centres are reportedly located in Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines and Malaysia as well.
The underground operations are often linked to criminal networks that recruit victims globally, putting them to work in facilities principally in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines and Malaysia, the UN report said in May.