Foreign job racket busted

Source: Thehindu  :

One tout held

Bidar police have busted a ring of touts sending unemployed young people, promising them jobs, overseas. A team of officials arrested Sanjay Hegde, an agent from Kitta village, in this connection. He was working through M. Rafiqe based in Mangalore. These agents however, obtained tourist visas for the job seekers but lied to them that they were getting work visas.

They began working on this trail after a complaint from Digambar Patil, a farmer from Chalkapurwadi village in Bhalki taluk. Mr. Patil told Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Reddy that his brother Dattatri Patil had been jailed in Malaysia for staying without a proper visa and other documents.

“We began working on two levels. I contacted my batch mates from the Indian Foreign Service and other friends to get in touch with Malaysian authorities. We also began tracking the agents,” Mr. Reddy said.

Police contacted families of some other youth who had gone outside to work. They found out that the agent had sent scores of youth from Bidar to various countries including Malaysia. He was arrested soon. Police say they had information about other such agents operating in Bidar and surrounding areas and they would be arrested soon. Meanwhile, officials contacted their counterparts in the Malaysian government. “They demanded a letter and some documents to prove Dattatri’s credentials and we sent them. They assured to consider repatriation of the victim,” a senior officer said.

“We learnt that all agents followed the same procedure. They would sent these youth on tourist visas and promise that their contact in that country would meet them once they arrived. The ‘contact’ would take away their passports and other documents like education certificates. These people effectively became bonded labourers working without any valid documents. Once the host country’s government came to know about it, they would be arrested as they did not even have passports,’’ a member of the investing team said.

Patil’s family members say the young man is safe and healthy. “We approached MP Bhagwanth Khuba with a request. He spoke to the External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, and assured us that Dattatri will return to India in one or two days,” Digambar Patil, the victim’s brother, said.




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Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/foreign-job-racket-busted/article7579176.ece