The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has charged five accused in connection with a cyberfraud and human trafficking racket involving a consultancy firm in Delhi, run through Laos-based fake call centres.
The accused have been identified as Manjoor Alam aka Guddu, Sahil, Ashish aka Akhil, Pawan Yadav aka Afzal, and “key conspirator” Kamran Haider aka Zaidi.
“NIA investigations have revealed that all the five were involved in trafficking vulnerable Indian youth to the Golden Triangle Region in Lao PDR (Laos) where they were forced to commit cyber scams targeting European and American citizens. They operated through the consultancy firm, Ali International Services, which functioned as a front for human trafficking,” said the agency on Thursday.
According to the NIA, Zaidi allegedly facilitated the entire operation and was also involved in extorting money through cryptocurrency wallets from victims who tried to escape the clutches of “the Chinese scammers”.
“Pawan Yadav bypassed the other middle agents to supply the trafficked persons in lieu of jobs directly to his fold. He further employed them into Chinese companies involved in creating fake Facebook profiles and chatting with persons from U.S.A. and Europe and convincing them to invest in cryptocurrency apps as part of the cyber scam,” the NIA said.
Well-organised network
The NIA probe unearthed a well-organised network of traffickers and touts involved in various illegal activities. “These ranged from operation of unlicensed manpower supply agency to illegal transfer/transport of potential victims for criminal activities in South Eastern Asian countries. The chargesheeted accused were directly involved in arranging flight tickets and documents, and in facilitating illegal border crossings with the help of contacts in the Golden Triangle Region,” said the agency.
About a month ago, the NIA had chargesheeted the chief executive officer of Laos-based company “Long Sheng” in the same matter. In June, it had arrested the accused named Sudarshan Darade in Mumbai. He was the sixth person chargesheeted in that case and the third to have been arrested, besides Jerry Jacob and Godfrey Alvares.
“A large amount of incriminating material has been recovered from Darade’s mobile phones. Darade has also revealed details to the NIA regarding another wanted accused, Sunny Gonsalves, as well as foreign nationals, Niu Niu and Elvis Du, who are still absconding,” said the agency.
As alleged, Long Sheng — based in the Bokeo province of Laos PDR — was involved in the trafficking of youth to Laos via Bangkok on the pretext of job offers. “The company would conduct WhatsApp interviews and send appointment letters to the youth, who on reaching the destination were forced to commit online crypto currency frauds. On Darade’s instructions, Jacob would arrange for the transportation of the Indian youth to the Golden Triangle Laos,” it said.
“Refusal by the trafficked youth to engage in the cyber fraud in the Golden Triangle led to starvation and lashing in locked rooms. Some youths were even given electric shocks if they failed to meet their targets of befriending prospective victims on social media...the NIA is in constant touch with the identified/rescued victims to gather information about others involved in the racket, and is also spreading awareness among youth about the dangers of engaging with unverified international companies for employment,” the probe agency said.
Published - October 10, 2024 11:43 pm IST