Five persons were arrested on May 27 in human trafficking and cyber fraud case, following the joint searches conducted across six States/Union Territories by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the local police, in coordination with the Central intelligence agencies.
“The five accused have been arrested in the cases registered with State police, not the NIA,” the agency clarified on Tuesday.
The NIA probe has revealed that the accused were part of the organised trafficking syndicate engaged in luring and sending the Indian youth to foreign countries on the false promises of legal employment.
“The youth were being forced to work in fake call centres in Laos, Golden Triangle SEZ, and Cambodia, among other places, as part of the racket, controlled and operated mainly by foreign nationals. They were coerced into undertaking illegal activities online, such as credit card fraud, investments in crypto currency using fake applications, honey trapping etc,” the agency said.
Also read: Efforts on to bring back more victims of human trafficking racket in Cambodia, say Vizag police
Among those arrested are Manish Hingu of Vadodara (Gujarat), Pahlad Singh of Gopalganj (Bihar), Nabialam Ray of South-West Delhi, Balwant Kataria of Gurugram (Haryana), and Sartaj Singh of Chandigarh. The searches were carried out at 15 locations in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Chandigarh.
Documents seized
“The searches led to the seizure of several incriminating materials, including documents, digital devices, handwritten registers, multiple passports, bogus overseas employment letters etc. Eight fresh First Information Reports have been registered by different State/union territory police forces and five accused have been arrested,” said the NIA.
The arrested accused worked in coordination with the traffickers operating from across the international border to facilitate illegal border-crossing of the Indian youth from Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam to Laos Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
“They were working at the behest of foreign-based agents belonging to well-organised syndicates that were active in several districts of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, etc. These syndicates were further connected to operatives based in other parts of India, as well as foreign countries like the United Arab Emirates, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos SEZ...,” it said.
The NIA had taken over the case from the Mumbai police on May 13.
Over 400 rescued
The Indian Embassy in Laos has so far rescued over 400 Indian nationals from Lao PDR. Earlier this month, it had issued an advisory stating that such persons were being trapped through offers of fake jobs such as that of “Digital Sales and Marketing Executives” or “Customer Support Service” by dubious companies involved in call centre scams and crypto-currency fraud in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Laos.
“Agents in places such as Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore, and India associated with these firms are recruiting Indian nationals by taking a simple interview and the typing test, and are offering high salaries, hotel bookings along with return air tickets and visa facilitation. Victims are illegally taken across the border into Laos from Thailand and held captive to work...under harsh and restrictive conditions,” said the advisory.
It added: “At times, they are taken hostages by criminal syndicates indulging in illegal activities and forced to work in strenuous conditions under constant physical and mental torture. In some other cases, Indian workers have been brought to Laos to work in other regions of Laos in low-cost jobs such as mining, wood factory, etc. In most cases, their handlers exploit them and endanger them in illegal work.”
