Indian Youths Made to Sign Up for Russian Army on Pretext of Mall Job
HYDERABAD: As many as 12 Indian youngsters were allegedly lured by agents to sign up for the Russian state-funded private army, the Wagner Group, on the pretext of employment in Russia, and dropped off in war-torn Ukraine as part of the Russian army, according to AIMIM Asaduddin Owaisi, who held a press meet on the issue.
Owaisi said: “Twelve Indians, in the name of security/helper jobs in Russia, were cheated by the agent Faisal Khan and his associates and dumped on the war front at Russia-Ukraine border.”
“I request the Central government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and foreign affairs minister Subramaniam Jaishankar, to talk to the Russian government and see that the 12 Indians return safely,” Owaisi said and also posted on social media, seeking their help.
Family members of the youngsters, most of whom are aged between 23 and 30, said that they have not been able to communicate with the victims due to poor phone signals and depend on voice messages for communication. They said that the messages are also interspersed with sounds of bullets and firing in the background.
“They are begging for help to get them out of the war zone,” a relative of one of the youngsters said.
Mohammed Imran, the brother of one of the youngsters identified as Mohammed Asfan, said Asfan is currently in a red zone in Ukraine.
“My brother, in his recent message, said that people around them are dying in the bloody war. He can’t take this and asked me do something to get him out, fearing he will soon be shot,” said Imran, a resident of Bazarghat in the city.
“We plead with the Indian government to bring our kin back safely as they are victims of fraudulent agents,” Mohammed Imran told Deccan Chronicle.
Among the victims was a group of acquaintances, Syed Illyas of Uttar Pradesh, Mohammed Asfan of Bazarghat in Hyderabad, and Abdul Nayeem of Kalburgi in Karnataka. Besides the group, other victims were identified as Arbab Hussain of Uttar Pradesh, Zahoor Ahmed of Jammu and Kashmir, and Hamel Ashwin Bhai of Gujarat.
The main accused in the case was identified as Faisal Khan, alias Baba, who runs ‘Baba Vlogs’, a social media channel with over 50,000 followers, and is based in Dubai. The other accused were identified as Sufaian, Moin and Ramesh — who work as sub-agents in Moscow of Russia — and Puja, an agent who operates out of Mumbai.
In the press meeting, Owaisi said: “The main agent Faisal Khan is presently in Dubai; other agents Moin and Ramesh in Russia, while Puja and Sufaian, who are in India, have played with the lives of the youth of middle-class families. I saw the videos posted by the Indian youth. They are stuck in a critical situation and their parents are in a deep agony.”
As per the details shared, Sameer, Nayeem and Illyas worked together in Dubai, and were inspired by the ‘Baba Vlogs’ channel and decided to take up jobs in Russia after meeting with Faisal Khan.
“They were framed by the main agent Faisal Khan and sub agents Ramesh and Moin,” a family member of one of the victims said.
Mohammed Afsar, an uncle of one of the victims, said that the group departed for Russia on November 12, 2023, from the Chennai international airport on a flight to Moscow in Russia, via the Sharjah international airport.
“They went on tourist visas. The agent Faisal cheated them by promising jobs and got them recruited in the Russian military,” Mohammed Afsar said.
“All of them belong to middle-class families. To take care of their families by earning money, they decided to work in Russia,” he said.
The accused allegedly collected Rs 3 lakh from each victim for the job placement.
Mohammed Zahoor, a relative of one of the victims, said: “As per schedule, they reached Moscow where they met agents Ramesh and Moin, who assured them that they were hired as security in a mall in Moscow. They took their signatures on a one-year contract that was written in Russian.”
The agents then took the 12 Indians to a military camp and got them trained in using firearms. When questioned, the agents told them that the training was part of their employment as security. However, the victims grew suspicious upon being transported around 1,000 kilometres after their training and dropped at the Ukraine border, but they could not locate the agents or contact them by phone.
“Later, the victim came to know that the contract they signed was to join a Russian private army called ‘Wagner’. It was too late to retract and they had already landed in deep trouble,” Zahoor said.
Mohammed Saber, a friend of another victim, said: “My friend, in a video message, informed me that one Indian named Azad Yousuf was shot dead in the war before his eyes.”