Gurugram: Social media influencer arrested for human trafficking

GURUGRAM, May 27: Controversial social media influencer Bobby Kataria was arrested on Monday for alleged human trafficking, officials said.

Two men contacted the Gurugram police, claiming that Kataria had defrauded them of over Rs 4 lakh on the pretext of getting them a job abroad.

According to the complaint filed by Arun Kumar, a native of Fatehpur, and Manish Tomar, a resident of Dholana in Uttar Pradesh, they came across an advertisement on Instagram offering an opportunity to work abroad.

The announcement was posted from Kataria's official Instagram handle and YouTube channel. After contacting the influencer, they were asked to meet him at his office in a Gurugram mall.

“I met Bobby Kataria on February 1 in his office and he gave me the assurance of getting a job in the UAE after taking Rs 2,000 as application fee. I then transferred Rs 1.5 lakh to his account and got a ticket to Vientiane (capital of Laos),” Kumar told police.

“Similarly, my friend Manish Tomar was also assured of getting a job in Singapore. Kataria charged Rs 2.59 lakh from Tomar and he too got a ticket to Vientiane and boarded the flight on March 28,” Kumar said.

When we landed at the Vientiane airport, we met a person named Abhi who introduced himself as a friend of Kataria. A Pakistani man then dropped us off at a hotel, he said.

“The next day we were taken to an unnamed Chinese company, where we were beaten and our passports were confiscated. We were forced to commit cyber fraud targeting American citizens. Around 150 Indians, including women, were brought there through human trafficking and are being held hostage.

“On the third day, we managed to escape and approach the Indian embassy. After we returned, we asked Kataria to return our money, but he refused,” the complainant said.

Following the complaint, an FIR was registered against Kataria and others under sections 323 (hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 420 (cheating), 364 (kidnapping), 370 ( purchase and alienation of any person). as a slave), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and section 10/24 of the Immigration Act.

Kataria was arrested from her office in Gurugram.

In 2022, Kataria was arrested by Delhi Police for smoking inside an airplane while a Dehradun court issued an arrest warrant against him the same year after he shared a video in which he was seen drinking in public and blocking a road.

An FIR was registered against Kataria by the Gurugram police for beating a woman, posting vulgar messages about her on social media and issuing death threats to her in 2022.

He was also arrested in Gurugram for misbehaving with the police. (PTI)