Five people arrested in human trafficking, cyber fraud cases following joint operation by NIA and state police

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 involving forcible cybercrimes that led to to the arrest of five accused.

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. , informed an NIA press release.

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 police forces of different States/UTs and five accused have been arrested.

Download the Nagaland Tribune app on Google Play

NIA investigations revealed that the accused were involved in an organized trafficking syndicate that lured and trafficked Indian youths 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 the illegal passage of Indian youth from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to the Laos SEZ. They worked at the request of overseas-based agents from well-established companies. organized trade unions which were active in several districts of Maharashtra, UP, Bihar, Gujrat, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana etc. These syndicates were further linked to agents based in other parts of India, as well as foreign countries like UAE, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos SEZs, etc.

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

Further investigations are underway.