Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: After the death of two Indians and reports of many more duped to join Russia as soldiers against its ongoing war in Ukraine, India has busted a gang of human traffickers who recruited youths by offering them jobs abroad.
Several Indians have been duped to work with the Russian Army, officials said on Friday, adding that they have “strongly” taken up the matter with the Russian authorities for their early discharge, the media reported.
Some of those stuck in Russia even claimed they went there as tourists and were drafted in the Russian army.
Quoting CBI officials, the reports said the probe agency busted a network of recruiting agents for tricking job-seekers and sending them to war-torn Russia under the pretext of giving them jobs.
The human traffickers, operating under an “organized network,” lured the people through social media from across their network in several states. About 35 people have fallen victim to the racket, the agency said.
It said that recruiters were using social media channels like YouTube and their local contacts to lure “gullible” youth to travel to Russia for high-salary jobs.
A man from Uttar Pradesh, speaking from Moscow, was quoted as saying that he had been lured to Russia by a YouTube channel, promising a monthly salary of Rs. 150,000. “We were not told that we are being drafted in an army,” he said.
Around two dozen Indians are believed to have been forced into fighting Russia’s war against Ukraine. One of them was reportedly killed this week in a war zone.
“Strong action has been initiated against agents and unscrupulous elements who recruited them on false pretexts and promises,” said an official release.
The CBI’s statement came a day after it carried out raids in seven cities and busted a ring involved in trafficking Indians to Russia.
“The CBI yesterday busted a major human trafficking network conducting searches in several cities and collecting incriminating evidence. A case of human trafficking has been registered against several agents,” the government said.
It emerged during the CBI raids that at least 35 Indians were sent by these firms to Russia and Ukraine, but an official said it was not clear if all of them were forced to take part in the war. At least 20 Indians trapped in Russia had contacted the Indian authorities, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
The government also appealed to the citizens not to be swayed by offers made by agents for support jobs with the Russian Army since it is “fraught with danger and risk to life.”
“We remain committed to the early release of our nationals serving as support staff with the Russian Army and their eventual return home,” the government added.
The center had last month admitted some Indians are entangled in Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine after nearly a dozen families appealed for their return.
The families, from different states, had claimed their sons were promised support jobs in Russia but were ultimately enlisted in the army. The unsuspecting Indians were given misleading translations of documents and made to sign up for military service.
Earlier this week, a group of seven youths from Punjab and Haryana made a video appeal to the government from Russia, claiming they were tricked into fighting the war against Ukraine.
Mohammed Asfan, a man from Hyderabad who was duped into joining the war, was killed this week. The Indian Embassy in Moscow has confirmed his death but did not mention the cause or what he was doing in that country.
The CBI found that trafficked Indian nationals were being trained in combat roles and deployed at front bases in the Russia-Ukraine war zone “against their wishes, thus, putting their lives in grave danger.”
The agency filed cases against several private visa consultancy firms and agents, conducting searches at 13 locations, including Delhi and Mumbai, and said it seized cash worth Rs. 50 lakh, “incriminating documents” and electronic devices from these places and detained some people for questioning.
The MEA had earlier acknowledged “that some Indian nationals have enlisted for support roles with the Russian army.” It was working with Russian authorities to get Indian nationals discharged from the army.
It also urged “all Indian nationals to exercise due caution and stay away from this conflict.”