THREE Indian tourists who were lured to Thailand by scammers and held captive and tortured for over six days for a big ransom in Chonburi were rescued by police today (July 27), Amarin TV said.
At 4:00 p.m. Pol. Col. Anek Sarathongyoo, superintendent of Pattaya City police station, and his team together with some members of Pattaya Indian Association surrounded a two-storey townhouse at Nong Prue subdistrict, Bang Lamung district, Chonburi, after being tipped off that some Indian tourists were locked up and tortured there for ransom.
The scammers, realising that police were closing in on them, fled on motorcycles in different directions moments before police arrived. They then stormed the townhouse and in the first bedroom on the second floor they found two Indian men bound hand and foot with their mouths taped shut. In another bedroom they found a third Indian man in similar condition.
All three were battered, with bruises on both ankles from being struck with a hard object. One of the victims had spray paint on his body to create the illusion of bleeding.
After being rescued the three Indian tourists, identified as Mr. Hyman Chu, 23; Mr. Ehis, 24; and Mr. Mekhid, 26, thanked Thai police and immediately contacted their relatives in India to inform them that they were safe.
They related that they had purchased a seven-day tour of Thailand for around 70,000 Thai baht per person. Upon arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 5 a.m. on July 21 they took a taxi to Pattaya and got off at a fast food restaurant at around 7 a.m.
An Indian man on a motorcycle met them and took them one at a time to the townhouse. There a group of men, likely four Pakistanis and one Indian, bound and gagged them. At times the gangsters forced them lie face down on the bed or hung them upside down as well as violently beating their ankles. They were deprived of food and water, and denied access to the toilet for over five days.
They forced them to call their relatives in India via satellite phone in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) to send a total of 7 million rupees (approximately 2.5 million Thai baht).
The victims initially believed they were being murdered and would never return home.
Pol. Col. Naphasphong Khositsuriyamanee, Chonburi Immigration Police superintendent, said the rescue operation was mounted after the victims’ relatives asked for help.
It was challenging investigating this case because the victims had called their relatives on phone numbers originating from the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) which was difficult to trace. However they eventually tracked down the scammers at this townhouse.
It is believed this is a new form of scamming, where scammers offer cheap tours to Thailand, abduct victims, and demand ransom from their relatives in their home country. Police are currently chasing the perpetrators to bring them to justice.
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Police rescuing three abducted Indian tourists, above and Front Page, and one of the scammers fleeing on a motorcycle, inserted. Photos – Amarin TV
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