Nepal to work with India on mechanism to curb job scams trapping youths

DEHRADUN: Nepal embassy officials, with the help of local police and anti-trafficking workers, rescued 13 Nepalese nationals from a dharmshala in Dehradun on Monday, days after 453 Nepalese men and women were brought out of a suspected networking fraud and labour exploitation racket in Kushinagar, UP, and said Nepal would work with Indian authorities to create a mechanism to prevent such job-scam networks from trapping youths across states.

Prakash Malla, senior superintendent of police in Nepal Police and currently attached to Embassy of Nepal in Delhi as counsellor of public affairs, told TOI that the 13 persons rescued from Dehradun had come from Kushinagar, where the embassy-backed team had earlier rescued the larger group. “It was found that these 13 individuals, among whom some may be handlers, had come to Dehradun around three days ago. All were hiding in a dharmshala here. After receiving the input, we reached here and informed local police. Subsequently, after confirming their whereabouts, we rescued them on Monday morning and took them back to Nepal,” Malla said.

The Dehradun rescue followed the May 29 operation in Kushinagar, where 453 Nepalese nationals were rescued from a suspected fake network-marketing setup operating on false job promises. Reports from the rescue said the group had allegedly collected money from victims in the name of membership or training, while eight persons were arrested and the rescued Nepalese citizens were handed over for further verification and repatriation.

Malla said the two recent rescues had prompted Nepalese officials to raise the issue at a higher diplomatic level. “We had raised the issue of Nepalese nationals falling into network marketing job scams like these two rescue operations, along with job scams in which Nepalese nationals are duping fellow nationals in India, before our foreign minister, who had visited India a couple of days ago. He said he would negotiate with his Indian counterparts for a mechanism. We have received full cooperation from Indian state police departments in the rescue operations so far,” he said.

Officials and anti-trafficking workers said the pattern in such cases was similar: Nepalese youths were lured with promises of jobs, training or quick income, brought to Indian towns close to the border or to states such as Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and then pressured to recruit more people or sell products under network-marketing-like models. In some cases, victims were allegedly confined, deprived of wages or made to work under threats and debt pressure.

Naveen Joshi, representative of Nepal-based NGO KIN India, who accompanied Malla in both rescue operations, said they suspected a much larger network. “We suspect that at least 2,000 to 3,000 more Nepalese nationals are held captive in similar job scams in border areas of Indian states such as UP, Bihar and Uttarakhand,” Joshi told TOI.

Joshi said the Dehradun and Kushinagar cases were part of a continuing pattern seen in Uttarakhand last year as well. “Last year, we rescued over 30 youths in US Nagar district of Uttarakhand, where they were held captive under dire conditions and forced to dupe fellow Nepalese citizens by luring them with lucrative blue-collar jobs. If a mechanism is created, authorities of both countries will be in a better position to fight the perpetrators,” he said.

In that US Nagar case, Nepalese youths were allegedly kept in captivity for months after being brought to India on job promises, and police had registered charges of wrongful confinement, kidnapping and organised crime. Anti-trafficking workers said the recurrence of similar cases showed that rescue operations alone would not be enough unless both countries developed a faster system for information-sharing, verification of job recruiters, tracking of missing youths and joint action against those moving victims across the open border.

Malla said the immediate focus was to ensure safe return and verification of the rescued persons, while also identifying whether any of the 13 recovered from Dehradun had played an active role in controlling or moving others. He added that Nepalese authorities would continue coordinating with Indian police wherever fresh distress calls or inputs were received.

Confirming the development, Dehradun SSP Pramendra Dobal on Tuesday said that the district police assisted the Nepal team in finding the hideout. “We are also carrying out our own probe to know about the involvement of local, if any. Will continue to offer cooperation to the foreign authorities whenever required,” added Dobal.