Thane man held 'captive, tortured' in Thailand by company that wants USD 3,000 to release him, alleges his brother

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A man based in Maharashtra's Thane city has lodged a police complaint alleging that his younger brother has been held captive in Thailand by his employer company since the last one month, which is demanding USD 3,000 for his release, an official said on Thursday.

The victim, Ashish Dubey (31), also a resident of Thane, had gone to Thailand on September 12 and since then he has been tortured mentally and physically and forced to complete the target given by the company of contacting and convincing people to buy cryptocurrency. He is not allowed to get in touch with his family, he said.

Based on the complaint lodged by the victim's elder brother, a case of cheating and extortion was registered at Srinagar police station under the city's Wagle Estate division against a Thai national, the official said.

The complainant has also raised the issue with the External Affairs Ministry and the Maharashtra Chief Minister's Office (CMO), he said.

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The complainant had got acquainted with a man in Thane, who informed him about some job opportunities in Thailand. The complainant, who was looking for a job for his brother, sought more information and was told that the job was available in a Thailand-based company and he would get a salary of USD 1,000 per month, the police said quoting the complaint.

The victim was interviewed and was later selected for the job of digital marketing by the company. It sent the visa, flight ticket to the victim. Dubey got the job along with a man from Mumbai and another from China, police said.

"He took a flight to Thailand on September 12 and on his arrival along with the man from Mumbai, he was taken to an unidentified location. He was also not given the job of digital marketing as promised," the official said.

He was employed by a company which ran a fake call centre, where the victim was asked to prepare fake social media accounts in the name of women. The company also asked him to convince people into buying cryptocurrency and cheat them using the fake social media profiles, the complaint said.

The victim was tortured mentally and physically and forced to complete the target given by the company. The security personnel of the company did not allow him to get in touch with his family and held him captive in the company itself, the police official said.

The victim somehow managed to get in touch with the family once, when he narrated the ordeal, he said, adding that the accused company made a demand of USD 3,000 for the victim's release.

The police have initiated a probe into the complaint.

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