The Kerala Police have arrested three persons, including two claiming to be Russian citizens, in Thrissur district in connection with the alleged illegal recruitment of people from the state for the Russian military, The Indian Express reported on Sunday.

This came days after a man from Kerala was killed in Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The persons arrested in the matter were Sibi Ouseph, Sandeep Thomas and Sumesh Antony. The police said that Sibi and Sandeep claimed to have Russian citizenship.

They were arrested under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections pertaining to human trafficking by fraud or deception, unlawful compulsory labour against the will of a person, and cheating and fraud.

On January 14, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that 31-year-old Binil TB from Kuttanellur in Thrissur district, who was serving in the Russian military, had been killed.

Another person from Kerala, Jain TK, was injured and has been receiving treatment in a hospital in Moscow. Jain, 27, is reportedly Binil’s relative and was similarly recruited.

At least 12 Indian citizens serving in the Russian Army have been killed, the foreign ministry said on January 17. Eighteen Indians were still believed to be serving in the Russian military and the whereabouts of 16 of them were not known, the ministry said.

On Sunday, Thrissur City Police Commissioner Ilango R was quoted as saying that the arrests were made in cases registered based on complaints by the families of Binil and the injured person.

Ilango said that Sibi and Sandeep have claimed to have Russian citizenship. “They came to India on a visa,” the newspaper quoted the commissioner as saying.

“We are verifying their claims,” he said. “We don’t exactly know how many persons have been recruited to the Russian Army by the arrested gang. We can figure out that they took eight or nine persons to Russia.”

Sibi is Jain’s relative, the police officer said.

Sibi had allegedly taken Rs 1.4 lakh from Jain after promising him a job in Poland. He subsequently claimed that the Polish visa got cancelled but another job was available in Moscow, according to the first information report.

However, after arriving in Moscow in April, Jain was instead taken to a military camp.

While Sandeep allegedly seized Jain’s Indian passport and forced him to sign documents required for a Russian passport, Sumesh collected Rs 4.2 lakh from Jain for the flight tickets, the FIR said.

Binil, the person who was killed last week, had also been allegedly recruited by the same gang.

The Central Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation in March, arresting 19 individuals accused of recruiting Indians for the Russian military.

The Russian defence ministry stopped recruiting Indians in April, according to the Russian embassy in New Delhi. However, contracts for military service have delayed the release of several Indians.

Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.