Sixth arrest by NIA in human trafficking and cyber fraud case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has made the sixth arrest in a case of human trafficking and cyber fraud, in which the recruited youths were sent abroad to work in so-called fake centers. calls involved in online crimes. The arrest was made after carrying out searches in Nashik on Friday.

The NIA had taken over the case from the Mumbai Police on May 13 as the investigation revealed the existence of an organized interstate human trafficking syndicate with international links. This triggered multi-state joint operations with respective state police forces, leading to five arrests on May 27.

Those arrested earlier included Manish Hingu from Vadodara (Gujarat), Pahlad Singh from Gopalganj (Bihar), Nabialam Ray (Delhi), Balwant Kataria from Gurugram (Haryana) and Sartaj Singh (Chandigarh).

Sudarshan Darade is the sixth person arrested in Nashik. The NIA claims it was operating on orders from international unions.

Investigation revealed that Mr. Darade was allegedly directly involved in an organized trafficking syndicate engaged in luring and trafficking young Indians to foreign countries on the basis of alleged false promises of legal employment.

The NIA claimed that all the accused arrested so far were working in close collusion with traffickers operating across the international border to illegally transport Indian youths from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to the Special Economic Zone ( SEZ) of Laos.

The youths were allegedly forced to work in fake call centers in Laos, the Golden Triangle SEZ and Cambodia, among others, through labor unions set up, controlled and managed mainly by foreign nationals. These syndicates were linked to agents based in various parts of India, as well as other countries like UAE and Vietnam, besides Cambodia, Laos SEZ, etc.

The Golden Triangle SEZ is located along the Mekong River in Laos, on the international border of Myanmar and Thailand.

“These young trafficked victims were further forced to undertake illegal activities online, such as credit card fraud, cryptocurrency investments using fake apps, honey trapping, etc. .”, according to NIA investigations, which are continuing.

“Today's searches led to the seizure of several incriminating materials, including documents, digital devices, bank account details, etc., which the NIA is probing to unravel the conspiracy behind the human trafficking case. human beings and forced cyber fraud,” the NIA statement said.

The Indian embassies in Laos and Cambodia have posted a notice on the homepage of their respective websites alerting people about fake or exploitative job postings involving cybercriminals.

The one on Cambodia's website states: “Indian nationals intending to travel to Cambodia for work are requested to do so only through authorized agents.” It is also advisable to thoroughly check the potential employer's background in Cambodia. People were recruited after obtaining a tourist visa.

“Victims are illegally taken across the Thai border into Laos and held captive to work in the Golden Triangle SEZ in Laos under harsh and restrictive conditions. Sometimes they are taken hostage by criminal syndicates engaging in illegal activities and forced to work in harsh conditions under constant physical and mental torture,” reads the notice published on the embassy portal Indian in Laos.

“In some cases, Indian workers were brought to Laos to work in other parts of Laos in low-cost jobs such as mines, timber factories, etc. In most cases, their masters exploit them and put them in danger through illegal work. A number of Indians were rescued in very difficult conditions,” we can read on the portal.