Promised jobs in Spain, sent to Thailand. Then came ‘Khan Baba’ call

Manpreet Singh, 24, used to do odd jobs in his native village of Gill in Punjab's Kapurthala district. Some 25 km away, 27-year-old Kulraj Singh from Manak village in Jalandhar tehsil worked as a truck driver. A local travel agent approached them, separately, with the promise of jobs in Spain's hospitality industry.

They found it reassuring that the agent was not interested in any payment. “You first reach Spain and then pay as you earn,” they were told. On June 30 this year, they left. But instead of Spain, the two say they found themselves in Thailand.

Then came calls reportedly to their family members from a man who identified himself as “Khan Baba”. They were asked to pay Rs 15 lakh each for the release of Manpreet and Kulraj. While Mandeep's family managed to pay up, ensuring his return home, Kulraj's family says it could not arrange the full amount.

Kulraj is now in a jail in Thailand after a “wrong tip-off” against him by his alleged kidnappers, they say. The cases of Mandeep and Kulraj are not isolated. In the last 11 months, several cases of a similar nature have emerged from Punjab.

The young men were promised employment in Spain, Australia and South Korea, but ended up in Thailand, Iran, Ethiopia and Kenya, lured by different agents and taken via different routes. All the families told police they received calls from “Khan Baba”.

All the men who were targeted belong to modest families, and were working as drivers, barbers, petrol-pump workers or daily-wage labourers. Their families say they had to borrow money or sell valuables to raise Rs 15 lakh-Rs 70 lakh to secure their release.

Senior police officers told The Indian Express they were examining the call recordings submitted by the families of them talking to “Khan Baba” to try and trace him, but have had few leads so far. Kapurthala SSP Gaurav Toora says the complaints were being examined on a case-by-case basis.

Sant Balbir Seechewal, a Rajya Sabha MP of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, says he recently wrote to the External Affairs Ministry, Union Home Ministry and Punjab DGP, and sought Interpol assistance in the matter. In the case of both Mandeep and Kulraj, a local agent, Sanjeev Kumar, helped facilitate their travel, and has been named in a police complaint.

Sanjeev admits making the arrangements, but points out that he did not take any money. He blames one Sumrit Kumar, originally from Phagwara in Punjab but now based in Malaysia. According to Sanjeev, Sumrit arranged to send people to Europe, and he trusted him.

“Sumrit told me that the youths would travel to Thailand first, and obtain their Spain visas later. After that, the families (of Kulraj and Mandeep) were directed to a person in Amritsar, who collected the money to give to Sumrit in cryptocurrency,” Sanjeev tells The Indian Express, adding that he was ready to cooperate with police.

In her police complaint, Kulraj's mother Kuldeep Kaur has named Sumrit, his mother and his sister Komal, besides Sanjeev. Kuldeep says she went all the way to Sumrit's house last month along with her daughter-in-law and Sanjeev when she got a call from Komal, saying, “Paise denge padenge (you will have to pay up).” Police say they have questioned Sanjeev and recorded his statement.

When asked why he has not been arrested, SSP Toora says investigation is underway. Kulraj's family members say they were asked to pay Rs 15 lakh but they could not pay beyond the initial Rs 8 lakh. Soon after, he was arrested.