Thai Police and Indian Community of Pattaya Rescue Three Indian Tourists Kidnapped, Held Captive, and Tortured for Ransom Near Pattaya
PATTAYA, Thailand
Thai police with the assistance of the Indian Community of Pattaya, a nonprofit organization helping Indian tourists and residents in need in Pattaya, stormed a townhouse in Nong Prue on the afternoon of July 27th, 2026, freeing three Indian tourists who had been kidnapped, held captive, and tortured for more than five days by a gang demanding nearly 10 million rupees in ransom.
Update: Five Indian suspects have been arrested. Read more here.
At around 4 p.m., a joint team led by Pol. Col. Anek Srathongyu, Chief of Pattaya City Police Station; Pol. Col. Naphatphong Khositsuriyamanee, superintendent of Chonburi Immigration; and Pol. Col. Natthaphon Phongsuuksakul, superintendent of Nong Prue Police Station, along with investigators and members of the Indian Association of Pattaya, surrounded a two-storey townhouse at 36/4 Moo 13, near the Phuyai Kui market intersection. The operation followed a tip from relatives of the victims that Indian tourists were being held and tortured for ransom.
The suspects, believed to be four Pakistani men and one Indian man, fled on motorcycles in different directions as officers approached. Police then entered the property and found the three victims upstairs.
In one bedroom, two Indian men were discovered with their hands bound behind their backs, feet tied, and mouths sealed with tape. A third man was found in a similar condition in another room. All three showed clear signs of severe abuse: their ankles were bruised and marked from repeated beatings with hard objects. One had been sprayed with paint to simulate blood.
The victims, identified as Haimanshu, 23; Ehis, 24; and Meghid, 26, expressed overwhelming relief after their rescue, saying they felt they had been given a new life. They immediately contacted relatives in India to report they were safe.
According to statements given through an interpreter, the three men had purchased a seven-day tour package to Thailand for approximately 70,000 baht each. They arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 5 a.m. and took a taxi to a McDonald’s restaurant on Sukhumvit Road in central Pattaya, arriving around 7 a.m. There, an Indian man on a motorcycle picked them up one by one and took them to the townhouse.
Upon arrival, a group of men, four believed to be Pakistani and one Indian, bound their hands and feet with tape over their mouths to prevent them from calling for help. The captors repeatedly forced the victims to lie down and hang their heads over the edge of a mattress, then beat their ankles with sticks. Using a satellite phone routed through the United Arab Emirates (Dubai), the gang forced the hostages to call relatives in India and demand a total of 7 million rupees, about 2.5 million Thai baht, for their release.
The men had been held since the morning of July 21st. They were denied food, water, and access to a toilet for more than five days and subjected to the same abuse daily. They told police they had believed they would be killed and never return home.
Pol. Col. Naphatphong said the rescue began after relatives in India contacted Thai authorities for help, fearing the men had been kidnapped for ransom. Investigators faced difficulties tracing the calls because the gang used numbers registered in the UAE. Officers eventually tracked the group to the townhouse complex along Soi Mab Ta Toi, but the suspects escaped just before the raid.
Police believe the operation is part of a new scam tactic in which victims are lured with cheap tour packages to Thailand, then abducted upon arrival so the gang can extort money from their families back home. Authorities are continuing the investigation to track down and prosecute the five suspects. All three rescued tourists are now safe.
