SAHIWAL: Three friends belonging to Sahiwal and Faisalabad have reportedly been kidnapped in Bangkok, Thailand.

Usman Amin and Muhammad Ahmed of Sahiwal and Tajumal Hussain of Faisalabad were trapped by social media groups for work in Thailand.

Usman, a 23-year-old resident of Chak 90/9-L, district Sahiwal, had gone to Dubai in early 2024 for work where he met an Indian co-worker, Sushmita. As he did not have a work visa, he was deported to Pakistan in December 2024.

Sushmita later introduced him to a social media group that offered call centre jobs in Bangkok. Usman convinced his two friends, Muhammad Ahmed (20) from Inayat Elahi Colony, Sahiwal, and Tajumal Hussain (30) from Faisalabad, to go to Bangkok with him. They were promised visas and tickets.

Usman, Tajumal, and Ahmed received their tickets and Thai e-visas and took a Thai Airways flight for Bangkok on June 26.

Usman’s wife, Nighat, said the three friends landed at the Bangkok Airport on the morning of June 27 and a company car picked them up. Nighat maintained contact with her husband for next four days after which the communication stopped.

Nighat told Dawn that human traffickers had confiscated their mobile phones but one phone, hidden in Tajumal’s bag, went unnoticed. In the last communication received from that phone, Nighat received a message from her husband who claimed that they had been kidnapped and were being taken to Myanmar by foot.

Later, she received a call from unknown individuals who said they had kidnapped Usman and would release him after receiving $25,000.

Nighat reported the matter to the Pakistan Citizen Portal and the Thai Embassy but did not receive any response. She and other family members appealed to the prime minister and other authorities concerned to help them recover the abductees.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2025