Walls as high as 15 ft run into every direction. Men armed with tasers and batons are on guard 24/7 to apprehend any runaways. On the one side is a seemingly unending shoreline and on the other, rows of multi-storeyed buildings which harbour office spaces, casinos, gambling dens and brothels. Equipped with ‘punishment rooms’ and state-of-the-art AI units, the complex described above is one of many operating in Cambodia.
Thousands from around the world are lured to these complexes on the pretext of a ‘data entry’ job, only to then have their passports snatched and be forced into a round-the-clock multi-billion dollar scam industry as cyber slaves.
Two others from Karnataka, Ashok from Chikkamagaluru and Jaishankar from Kolar, were also rescued. They were reportedly among the 5,000 Indians held captive in Cambodia where they were being forced to run cyber scams or sextortion rackets.