Fake New Zealand Visa
8 cheated job seekers return
The eight Bangladeshi jobseekers, whom an organised gang deserted in Malaysia with fake visas of New Zealand, returned home yesterday.
The victims are Ruhul Amin, Abu Al-Razin, Santo Ghosh, Nesar Uddin, Abul Kashem, Rashed Hossain, Kamrul Islam and Abdul Rahim.
“They [human traffickers] took us to Malaysia promising New Zealand visas from there. But they left us there with fake visas,” said Ruhul Amin after arriving at Hazrat Shahjalal (R) International Airport.
The victims had been conned out of Tk 60 lakh, which they managed by selling land and taking loan on high interest. Stranded from early June till yesterday, they lived on the money sent from home.
Meanwhile, the jobseekers contacted Malaysian NGOs Tenganita and CARAM Asia in late June. These organisations verified the visas of New Zealand and found them to be forged.
Helpless, the victims filed a case with Dang Wangi Police Station in Kuala Lumpur against traffickers Muazzem Hossain, Alam, Shikder Zakir alias Samrat and Delwar Hossain.
The KL police arrested Delwar Hossain on June 24 and contacted the High Commission of Bangladesh there for new passports for the stranded Bangladeshis, as they needed the jobseekers’ current passports to investigate the case under anti-trafficking law.
The high commission extended no help saying that issuing two passports for an individual is against protocol, said one of the victims Abu Al-Razin.
He said, Delwar Hossain was released. He is now in Bangladesh and has threatened us of dire consequences when we return home.
Contacted, Delwar denied his involvement in the trafficking process saying that Samrat and Muazzem were involved in sending the jobseekers to New Zealand.
“I knew Samrat and was acquainted with Muazzem. The New Zealand visas were not fakes; rather, the Kiwi employers cancelled the visas, as the jobseekers could not reach there by May 25, their joining date. And this is because Muazzem did not pay Samrat,” Delwar told The Daily Star over the phone.
Samrat is now absconding while Muazzem is in Malaysia.