In a major crackdown on an alleged cross-border job scam, 453 Nepali migrants were deported from Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district after an extensive operation exposed a network that lured them to India with promises of skill training and lucrative employment.The migrants, who had been staying in rented accommodation for nearly three months, claimed they were persuaded to pay substantial sums for training programmes and assured of well-paying jobs that never materialised. Several of them alleged that they were not only defrauded but also unlawfully confined by the organisers when they began demanding the promised placements and expressed a desire to return to Nepal.The alleged racket was exposed after some of the victims alerted their families in Nepal and posted accounts of their ordeal on social media. The reports quickly reached the Nepal embassy in New Delhi, prompting diplomatic intervention and triggering a coordinated operation in Kushinagar to trace and rescue the victims.Police teams began tracing the rented accommodation in Kasya Nagar, Kushinagar, where the victims had been staying. In the early hours of Saturday, a large contingent of police personnel moved into the area and carried out a rescue operation, bringing the migrants to safety.The migrants were later transported in eight buses and repatriated to Nepal through the Sonauli border crossing with the assistance of the Nepal embassy.“The due process was followed in sending 453 Nepali nationals, both males and females, back to their country,” Keshav Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Kushinagar, said.On Sunday, the police registered a criminal case against nine suspected members of the recruitment network, accusing them of cheating and other offences. Ashutosh Singh, Station House Officer, Kasya police station, said that eight men and two women have been arrested, while efforts are underway to establish the full extent of the racket’s operation and identify any other accomplices. Seven of the arrested accused are from Nepal, he said.Poor migrants who spoke only NepaliStory continues below this adSingh said the inquiry found that the network largely focused on recruiting poor Nepali nationals who spoke only Nepali and had a limited understanding of Hindi or English, a factor that allegedly made it easier for the organisers to mislead and control them.The 453 deported migrants came from various parts of Nepal and were largely aged between 20 and 40. The police believe they were persuaded to cross into India after being promised skill-development training and access to well-paid jobs. Victims told the police they were asked to pay sums ranging from Rs 7,000 to Rs 1 lakh, depending on the course and employment package they were offered.The alleged recruitment network had been operating from a rented building in Kushinagar for nearly three months. The police are now questioning the property’s owner to determine what they knew about the activities being conducted on the premises and whether any local support helped sustain the operation. The inquiry is also focusing on the financial trail behind the payments collected from the migrants and the broader network that may have facilitated the cross-border scheme.Rescue and repatriationAccording to the police, they launched the operation on Friday after information surfaced that hundreds of Nepalis were allegedly being exploited under the guise of skill-development training and job placement programmes. The victims were reportedly promised training in fields such as fashion design and network marketing, along with assurances of lucrative employment opportunities in India. Instead, many claimed they had been cheated out of money and subjected to harassment after the promised jobs failed to materialise.Story continues below this adThe police mapped several rented properties across Kasya town where the Nepali nationals had been staying and also pinpointed the building allegedly being used as the operational hub of the recruitment network.Around the same time, a three-member team from the Nepal embassy arrived in Kushinagar to coordinate efforts and assist those affected.In the early hours of Saturday, the police launched a large-scale search operation across the identified locations. Officers separated the Nepali migrants from local residents and began a verification process to establish their identities and circumstances. Eight buses had already been arranged to facilitate their return journey.Once the identification process was completed, all 453 migrants—confirmed to be Nepali nationals—were escorted onto the buses and formally handed over to representatives of the embassy after the legal and administrative procedures were completed. The convoy was then taken to the Sonauli crossing on the India-Nepal border, where custody of the migrants was transferred to Nepal Police officials, marking the final stage of one of the largest coordinated repatriation exercises.Story continues below this adThe police also suspect that the operation functioned as a multi-level marketing scheme. Participants were reportedly encouraged to recruit three to five additional candidates from Nepal, with financial incentives linked to the number of people they brought into the programme. The model helped the network expand rapidly across several regions of Nepal, drawing hundreds of recruits within a short period.The scheme appears to have spread with remarkable speed. Within just three months, as many as 453 Nepali nationals had enrolled in the programme and travelled to Kushinagar, believing they were taking part in a legitimate training and employment initiative. Many of them rented accommodation in and around Kasya town while awaiting the promised courses and job placements.Several victims told police that the organisers retained their mobile phones and personal documents to prevent them from leaving or reporting the matter. However, some managed to contact their families in Nepal and shared their ordeal on social media.