Influencer Bobby Kataria, arrested for human trafficking, sent to 3-day pre-trial detention

Gurugram:

Controversial social media influencer Balwant Kataria alias Bobby Kataria, who was arrested on Monday for human trafficking and alleged fraud, has been sent to three-day remand by a city court, police said on Tuesday.

Rs 20 lakh in cash, some documents and four mobile phones were also recovered from his possession, they said.

“The accused Bobby Kataria has been remanded in custody for three days. All aspects of the investigation are being probed by the police,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (ACP) Crime Varun Dahiya said.

Kataria has been involved in a major human trafficking ring since last year and may have links to an international gang, police said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that several unemployed youths were deceived by Kataria, who ran her illegal business with a friend, they said.

Two men had 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 assurance of getting a job in UAE after taking Rs 2,000 as registration fee. I then transferred Rs 1 .5 lakh in his account and I got a ticket to Vientiane (capital of Laos),” Kumar had told the 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,” he had said Kumar.

When we landed at the Vientiane airport, we met a person named Abhi who introduced himself as a friend of Kataria. A Pakistani 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 confiscated. We were forced to commit cyber fraud targeting American citizens. About 150 Indians, including women, had been brought there through human trafficking. and were held hostage.

“On the third day, we managed to escape and approached the Indian embassy. After returning, 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, located in Conscient-One Mall, Sector 109 here.

Meanwhile, 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, which led to the arrest of five accused.

Among those arrested were Manish Hingu from Vadodara, Pahlad Singh from Gopalganj, Nabialam Rai from southwest Delhi, Sartaj Singh from Chandigarh, while on information from the NIA, the Gurugram police had arrested Kataria, police said.

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