The cyber wing of Maharashtra Police has rescued more than 60 Indian nationals who had been forced into cyber slavery in Myanmar and arrested five agents including a foreign national, an official said here on Friday.

Maharashtra Cyber has registered three First Information Reports in this regard, he said. The racketeers contacted the victims through social media platforms and offered them high-paying jobs in Thailand and other East Asian countries, he said. The agents arranged passports and flight tickets for the victims and sent them to Thailand on tourist visas. After landing in the country, they were sent to the Myanmar border where they were made to cross a river in small boats. On entering Myanmar, the victims were taken to guarded compounds controlled by armed rebel groups where they were forced to commit cyber frauds ranging from `digital arrest’ scams to fake investment schemes on an industrial scale. Maharashtra Cyber along with other agencies recued the victims, the official said, without giving details as to whether the operation was carried out inside Myanmar.

Questioning of the victims threw light on a network of agents and fraudulent call center companies which lured job aspirants from India, he said. Some of these companies operated under the garb of employment agency. Manish Grey alias Maddy, Taisan alias Aaditya Ravi Chandran, Rupnarayan Ramdhar Gupta, Jensi Rani D and Chinese-Kazakhstani national Talaniti Nulaxi were arrested for allegedly acting as recruitment agents. Manish Grey alias Maddy is a professional actor who has appeared in web series and television shows, the official said.

Along with others, Grey allegedly recruited unsuspecting individuals and facilitated their trafficking to Myanmar, he added. Talaniti Nulaxi was allegedly planning to set up a unit in India to commit cyber crimes, he said, adding that further probe was on.