A disturbing case of international human trafficking and fraud has come to light in Mumbai, where a city-based shipping placement firm allegedly cheated several young job seekers by promising them lucrative jobs on ships in Dubai but instead trafficked them to Iran and forced them into bonded labour.
The matter came to light after a 25-year-old youth from Uttar Pradesh, Rameshwar Umashankar Gupta, filed a complaint against a private company named Crystal Ship Management Pvt Ltd, located in Andheri West. Acting on the complaint, the Amboli Police have registered an FIR against company representatives including one Sohail, a man named Siraj, and an individual who allegedly operated under the alias "Captain Mohit" or "Momin Chauhan."
According to Gupta, he had completed a GP Rating course at Assam Marine College in Varanasi and had been seeking a job since July 2024. In November, after emailing his resume to the company, he was called for an interview. At the Andheri office, Sohail reportedly assured him of a placement aboard a 56,000-ton ship in Dubai, but demanded ₹5 lakh as placement fees—₹50,000 in advance for a medical test, followed by the balance payment once joining was confirmed.
Gupta paid the amount in installments, completing the full payment by February 2025. However, instead of being placed in Dubai, he was flown to Sharjah on a tourist visa and later transported to Shiraz, Iran. There, he met another youth, Yash Rajlal Chauhan, who had also been duped in a similar manner. Both were taken to a facility where over 15 Indian boys were being held, made to sign documents under duress, and forced to work for just USD 100 per month.
When they protested, they were threatened with abandonment and death. Sohail and “Captain” Mohit allegedly demanded that the victims record a video statement saying they had no complaints against the company if they wanted to return home. Once the videos were sent, the accused stopped responding to their calls.
The victims remained stranded at Shiraz airport for three days before their families managed to arrange flight tickets for their return to Mumbai through borrowed money. Upon their return, when Gupta and Chauhan visited the Andheri office to demand a refund, they were allegedly threatened with false molestation charges by the female staff. “Captain” Mohit also warned them of fabricated complaints being filed with the Mumbai Crime Branch, allegedly from Iran.
Despite the intimidation, the victims approached Amboli Police and registered a formal complaint. After the FIR was filed, the threats reportedly continued via WhatsApp calls and messages from different numbers, urging them to withdraw the case or face arrest in fake cases.
During the course of police proceedings, another victim, 23-year-old Ganesh Ramesh Naik, stepped forward and narrated a similar experience. He claimed he had paid ₹1.5 lakh to the same company but never received a job or his original documents back. A fourth victim, Vikas Kumar, was also identified.
The total fraud uncovered so far amounts to approximately ₹10.50 lakh. Police are now verifying the victims’ claims and have initiated a probe into the individuals named in the complaint. The accused are being called in for questioning and further action is expected in the coming days.