Myanmar slave trade: Blacklisted agent roams free, but my son still a prisoner, says Thane teacher

One of the Myanmar fraud factories run by Chinese scammers

A Thane woman has been running from pillar to post to register a case against an agent who allegedly lured her 26-year-old son with a job offer and took him to Myanmar, where Chinese scammers run fraud factories and have held hostage hundreds of Indians. She said the agent has been blacklisted by the Indian Embassy in Myanmar for his involvement in a job racket but the Thane police are refusing to register an FIR. According to the woman, the staff at Kasarvadvli police station told her that they won't register a case against the agent as he has not committed an offence. She has also written to the Thane police chief.

"I'm shocked to learn that one of the agents, Jagdish Kandpal, has been blacklisted by Indian Embassy in Myanmar, yet the Thane police have not registered an FIR against him. If action is not taken on time, he will go underground as it is a big human trafficking racket," the woman told mid-day. Amid reports of brutal torture of victims at the slave camps along the Myanmar-Thailand border, the mother is worried that her son has barely spoken to her after he left Mumbai on August 18.

Jagdish Kandpal, the accused agent

Kandpal said he is on dialysis and insisted that he is not involved in any job scam. "No victim is being tortured in Myanmar…people are giving you misleading information," he said. The woman said her physician husband is indisposed after a paralysis attack and she takes tuition classes to support her family. "I came in contact with Kandpal through my husband's schoolmate Jagdish Tiwari. I met Kandpal with my son at a cafe on August 16, and Kandpal promised him the job of a computer operator for which typing speed is checked. One more job aspirant was there that time, but I suspect he was one of the accomplices in the racket," the woman told mid-day. She said they have known Tiwari for decades.

Also Read: Myanmar slave trade: Indian embassy releases list of scam agents

‘Carry $500, my son was told'

The woman said Kandpal demanded money to make arrangements in Thailand. "I made Google Pay transactions to his bank account," she said. Her son was asked to keep $500 with him to travel to Bangkok, she said. The woman said her son travelled with another job aspirant. "They both landed in Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur. My son went incommunicado after he entered Mumbai airport. But his co-passenger's mobile was active. So, I was communicating with my son through his co-passenger's phone," she said. The mother said Kandpal also got his son's return ticket after 15 days. "When I asked him about it, he said it was to sort out visa issues." she said.

Was alerted by media reports

The woman's description of her son and the other job aspirant's travel from Thailand to Myanmar was strikingly similar to the ones shared by several victims of the job scam with mid-day: a car picked them up and took them to the Thailand-Myanmar border where they were told to cross a river.

A slave camp set up by Chinese scammers along the Thailand-Myanmar border

"It was an international border and he was forcefully taken to Myanmar to work like a slave," she said. "All his belongings were taken away by the Chinese captors. But the other boy who went with him was active on WhatsApp. So, I would communicate with him to know about my son."

The woman grew more suspicious after she came across multiple reports about the job racket in Myanmar. Her son's behaviour during their handful of interactions made her more worried. "I always felt there was someone around when he spoke to me."

Mom writes to Embassy

The woman also wrote to the Indian Embassy in Myanmar. On October 27, the Counsellor, Embassy of India in Yangon replied to her mail saying: "The Embassy is conscious of the fact that many Indians have been lured into the fake job scam in Myawaddy area despite our constant publicity through advisories/media news since July 2022 but we are making an all-out effort for their rescue/repatriation.

However, it may take some time since the area is out of control of the Myanmar authorities and rebel groups hold sway in that area. Request have patience and will update you soon. We have also intimated DGP Maharashtra to initiate action against the agent involved and you may also consider lodging FIR about the same in the local Police station."

The woman filed the complaint with the Thane police on October 21. "Despite our appeal to Kandpal and Tiwari, there has been no further contact with my son. When we pressed for his return, the agent Kandpal demanded '3 lakh if we want to have our son back," reads the complaint letter.

She also stated that one API Ravindra Phad has been asked to look into the matter. "Even after I submitted my complaint, the Thane police have not registered an FIR… I am fully terrified as my son is in great danger…," she said, adding she suspects she is being followed by some "unknown" people. "If anything happens to me, my son or any family member, Jagdish Kandpal and Jagdish Tiwari should be held responsible. They are also threatening to lodge a false criminal complaint against me and my family members," reads her complaint.

FIR? For what?

API Phad had a counter-question. "Why will an FIR be registered? He [the victim] has himself travelled by air, he has been sending SMSes and talking to everybody…." Phad went on to say, "His mother has submitted a complaint to us and we are investigating the matter, then why did she approach the media?"

Asked about the potential human trafficking angle Phad said, "One of the agents [Tiwari] is a very old family friend of the victim. We have recorded his statement. The woman herself had visited Tiwari seeking a job for her son. Then he helped her and introduced her to Kandpal, who is on dialysis. I had called Kandpal but he did not come. Above all, I am on leave for five days."

The police officer added, "Kandpal told me on the phone that he was bringing back the woman's son by November 12. Now tell me why the FIR will be registered if the boy has himself travelled to the foreign country?"

‘Not involved in any scam'

Tiwari said he and Kandpal once lived together in the same area at Ghatkopar. "I don't know what he does now. Since the woman was looking for a job for her son, I introduced her to Kandpal. I have nothing to do with the job racket."

Calling himself a heart patient, Kandpal said he lives in Ghatkopar and runs a catering business. "I met the woman and her son at a cafe and gave them the number of a company's CEO. I am not in the frame of what she talked about with the CEO and when her son travelled. I just took my commission for introducing her to the CEO of a company," he said.

"I was told that the job would be given in Thailand, not in Myanmar. Also, no employee is being tortured there… everyone is earning well and is happy with the working atmosphere," Kandpal told mid-day. When asked if he is aware that his name and mobile number have been blacklisted by Indian Embassy in Myanmar, Kandpal said, "He [the woman's son] is the only man who reached Thailand with my reference. Why will I be blacklisted… I am not even an agent."

21
Day of this month when the woman wrote filed the complaint