NIA conducts raids in several states, arrests 5 men involved in human trafficking

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted searches in several states and arrested five people suspected of being involved in an international human trafficking and cyber fraud syndicate.

The accused were luring young Indians to foreign countries with false promises of jobs, an official statement said.

The youths were forced to work in fake call centers in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Laos and Cambodia, among other locations, as part of the racket, controlled and operated mainly by foreign nationals, he added.

They were forced to undertake illegal activities online, such as credit card fraud, cryptocurrency investments using fake apps, honey trapping, etc., the agency said. investigation.

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, Uttar Pradesh, of Bihar, Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. , It said.

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 and false letters of employment abroad.

Eight new FIRs have been registered by police forces of different States/UTs and five accused have been arrested, the NIA said.

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 to the Laos SEZ, a- he added.

They worked at the behest of foreign-based agents belonging to well-organized unions active in several districts of Maharashtra, UP, Bihar, Gujarat, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, between others, the NIA said.

“These syndicates were further connected to agents based in other parts of India, as well as foreign countries like UAE, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos SEZ, etc. », he adds.

The searches and subsequent arrests are part of the NIA's investigation into a case that took over from the Mumbai Police on May 13.

The human trafficking syndicate was found to be not only operating in Mumbai but had links with other facilitators and traffickers in various parts of the country and across the border, the l investigation agency.

NIA investigations revealed that the accused were involved in an organized trafficking syndicate that lured and trafficked Indian youth to foreign countries on the basis of false promises of employment.