In mid-July last year, three Indian men - Ashwani Kumar, Binder Sodhi and Raman - took a taxi to the Indian Embassy in Cambodia. For them, it is their last chance to escape being held captive and exploited like a "race" in a transnational online scam ring.
Ashwani Kumar, a native of Haryana state, recounted that he was tricked by a person named Ali Khumeni into going to Dubai in March 2024 with a promise to work as a data player for a salary of 40,000 rupees (about 450 USD). But as soon as they arrived, Kumar and many others were locked up in a closed camp, banned from going out and forced to make fraudulent phone calls targeting the indians.
Those who refused were beaten and threatened. After a "fake raid", the group of workers were secretly taken to Bangkok, then transported by car to the Cambodian border. Here, their passports were confiscated, forcing them to walk through the border gate to a complex in Krong Poi Pet, Cambodia.
When I arrived, I was stunned: At least 600 other indians were forced to work in two companies, all of whom had their passports held and lived under armed supervision, Kumar said in an email to the Embassy.
In the " camp", every movement is monitored by the embankment security guard. Those who seek to escape will be dragged out and beaten in front of others to spread fear. We are considered slaves. They threatened to kill anyone who dared to run" - Kumar wrote.
On July 15, 2024, taking advantage of the 4-hour time allowed to go out to buy necessities, Kumar and 2 compatriots decided to bet. They took a taxi straight to the Indian Embassy in Phnom Penh, telling the whole story. Immediately afterwards, the three were granted white passports to return to India.
From the email sent from the Embassy, the Delhi Special Police took action. A criminal case is opened under the Penal Code and the Indian Migration Law. Ali Khumeni was arrested in Meerut in July 2024. During the questioning, he stated that he worked as a human resource officer for a Chinese company that operated a fraud network.
The case file shows a ring specializing in recruiting Indian workers and then sending them to overseas fraud centers. By early 2025, many subjects in the network had been arrested one by one, the case is currently being investigated by the High-Tech Crime Department (IFSO) under the supervision of Deputy Chief of Police Vinit Kumar.
Despite escaping death, Ashwani Kumar's life is still uncertain. He returned to the Middle East as a security guard, despite his haunting memories of his days in a "slav camp". I dont have a choice. The family - my wife and young child - are waiting for me, Kumar said.
The story of Kumar, Sodhi and Raman not only reveals a link in a cross-border scam ring, but also exposes the dangers of illegal labor - where the dream of a light job with high salary can turn into a nightmare in a foreign land.
For its part, the Special Committee on Anti-Online Fraud in Cambodia said that since August 27-21, 2025, the government has raided 72 online fraud rings in 18/25 Cambodian provinces and cities, arresting 3,170 suspects of 19 different natures.
