Eight more Telangana youths who were smuggled into Cambodia for running a fake call center identified

Telangana police have identified eight more individuals from the state who were promised jobs and smuggled into Cambodia for running a fake call center. This comes a month after Sircilla police arrested K. Sai Prasad, an operative of the cyber-fraud gang, who was allegedly running a fake call center in Cambodia.

“In the list of 20 people shared by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), we have identified eight people who are currently in Cambodia and working in the call center. They stayed in touch with their families via WhatsApp. Details of these individuals are being shared with the Indian Embassy and will be rescued,” informed an official from the Telangana State Cyber ​​Security Bureau (TSCSB).

Meanwhile, verification of the whereabouts of 12 other people on the list is also being carried out through other channels, the official said.

The case was transferred to the TSCSB on May 16 due to the involvement of international criminals after the network was discovered following the return of A. Shiva Prasad, who was brought to work in the call center, after collecting ₹1.40 lakh on the pretext of work in the South East Asian nation.

The police have identified three other agents in the network, one of whom has been issued a notice under Section 41 of the CrPC while lookout notices are underway for the other two who are currently not in the country.

The scam dates back at least three years and led to raids on call centers allegedly run by Chinese nationals defrauding individuals in loan app scams in the state. “They then decamped and resettled in Nepal and Bangladesh. Following the clean-up operation in the two neighboring countries, they have now shifted their base to Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam and are targeting Indian youth from there,” the official explained.

Earlier this week, 60 Indian nationals, including 15 from Vizag, were rescued by the embassy from fraudulent employers and returned home after the arrest of Chukka Rajesh Vijay Kumar, Mannena Gnaneswara Rao and Sabbavarapu Kondala Rao – agents premises of Vishakhapatnam.

“What is interesting is that in many cases, like in Telangana, these officers themselves only know their Cambodian counterparts through social media. They reach out to unemployed youth by offering them software jobs for ₹1.5 lakh and once they reach there, individuals are forced to participate in cyber scams in India,” explained the responsible.