5 ARRESTED AFTER MULTI-STATE SEARCHES CONDUCTED JOINTLY BY NIA AND STATE POLICE IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND CYBERFRAUD CASE

New Delhi, May 27, 2024: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted searches at several locations in six States/UTs as part of joint operations with local police in a human trafficking case human rights involving forced cybercriminals that led to the arrest of five defendants. .

Manish Hingu from Vadodara, Pahlad singh from Gopalganj, Nabialam Ray from southwest Delhi, Balwant Kataria from Gurugram and Sartaj Singh from Chandigarh were arrested following a crackdown in 15 places in Maharashtra, UP, Bihar, Gujrat, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. .

The NIA carried out a coordinated operation with state police forces and central intelligence agencies at all locations. The searches led to the seizure of several incriminating items, including documents, digital devices, handwritten registers, several passports, false letters of employment abroad, etc.

Eight new FIRs have been registered by different police forces of the State/UT and five accused have been arrested.

NIA investigations revealed that the accused was involved in an organized trafficking syndicate that lured and trafficked Indian youth to foreign countries on the basis of false promises of legal employment. The youths were forced to work in fake call centers in Laos, the Golden Triangle SEZ and Cambodia, among others, as part of the racket, controlled and operated mainly by foreign nationals. They were forced to undertake illegal activities online, such as credit card fraud, cryptocurrency investments using fake apps, honey trapping, etc.

Investigations further revealed that the arrested accused were coordinating with traffickers operating across the international border to facilitate illegal smuggling of Indian youth from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam into the Laos SEZ. They worked at the behest of foreign-based agents belonging to well-organized unions active in several districts of Maharashtra, UP, Bihar, Gujrat, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, etc. . These syndicates were further connected to agents based in other parts of India, as well as in foreign countries like UAE, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos SEZ, etc.

The NIA had taken over the case from Mumbai Police on May 13, 2024. It found that the human trafficking syndicate was not operating only in Mumbai but had links with other facilitators and traffickers in various regions of the country and across the border.

Further investigations are underway.