Three people have been arrested in connection with the case.
A 22-year-old man from Nashik was allegedly duped of over Rs 4 lakh by three persons who lured him with a job offer abroad and then sent the victim to Iran where he was tortured, police said today.
The accused-Shashi Bhushan Sharayu Singh (36), Dhirajkumar alias Manojkumar Singh (23) and Abhilash Korde (23)-have been arrested in this connection, they said.
The victim, Bhushan Rajendra Yadav, from Panchavati in Nashik, was looking for a job when he landed at the office an overseas recruitment agency at Kopri in Thane.
Shashi Bhushan, the company director, allegedly promised him a job with a petroleum ship at Dubai for a salary of USD 600 per month, and asked him to pay Rs 3.50 lakh for it and to bear his travel expenses.
The victim's father sold his land in Nashik and also collected funds from relatives and friends.
The youth allegedly deposited Rs 2 lakh in the Bengaluru bank account of one Arvind Gupta on July 7, 2015, based on instructions from Shashi Bhushan, police said.
Later, Korde provided Mr Yadav some documents, including visa to Iran, and asked him to pay an equivalent USD amount of Rs 80,000 to the agent in Iran when he lands there.
He was told that the petroleum ship was berthed at Iran and he would get the job once he lands there, police said quoting the complaint.
On landing at Bushehr airport at Iran, the victim met two agents and handed them USD 1,200 for further process.
However, instead of giving him a job in the petroleum ship, they allegedly took Mr Yadav to a dingy room in Bushehr and dumped him along with 25 others who had been brought there from various parts of India, a release issued by Thane police crime branch said.
Mr Yadav was allegedly given sub-standard food for one month and after being tortured, he was put to work in a fishing boat for which he was not paid for six months, police said.
Later, Mr Yadav managed to escape from there. He came to India in February this year and lodged a complaint with Thane police on July 30.
The crime branch of Thane police took up probe in the case and subsequently arrested Shashi Bhushan from Ulhasnagar on July 31, the main accused Dhirajkumar from his native place at Begusarai in Bihar on August 8, and Korde from Pune on August 16.
The accused have been booked under IPC sections 370 (buying or disposing of any person as slave), 344 (wrongful confinement), 420 (cheating) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy).
Apart from probe in the case, police are also trying to find out if the accused had cheated others also and if more persons were involved in the racket.