Anti-terror agency conducts raids in 6 states to probe human trafficking network

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted extensive searches at 22 locations in six states in a human trafficking and forced cyber fraud case, recovering incriminating material and cash linked to the accused.

The premises of 17 suspects were searched in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra and Punjab as part of the anti-terror agency’s ongoing investigations in the case of an organised syndicate engaged in trafficking of Indian youth to Southeast Asian countries.

The suspects have been identified as sub-agents, associates and relatives of Cambodia-based Indian agents involved in trafficking young Indian men to countries like Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
These suspects were involved in trafficking the job-seeking Indian young men to foreign countries, and managing their financial transactions and other logistics, as per NIA investigations.

The searches led to the seizure of several digital devices, including mobile phones, hard drives, memory cards, laptops and incriminating documents, along with property and financial documents. Further, Rs 34,80,800 worth of cash has also been recovered.

NIA investigations so far have revealed that the young job-seekers were being lured on the pretext of lucrative legitimate jobs and were then forced into cyber slavery.
The trafficked young people were being transferred to scam companies, with their passports seized.

Statements given to NIA by the victims have revealed mental and physical torture, including electric shocks, by the managers of the scam companies in case of refusal to commit cyber frauds.

Further investigations in the case are continuing.
According to data from the Bureau of Immigration in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, 29,466 Indians who had travelled to Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia between January 2022 and May 2024 on visitor visas are missing. Half of them are in the age group of 20-39 and a third from Punjab, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Almost 70 per cent of these 29,466 individuals are missing in Thailand.
It is estimated that 5,000 Indian nationals could be trapped in such call centre frauds in Cambodia alone. According to reports, the Indian embassy in Phnom Penh has repatriated over 1,000 Indians, about 770 of them in the first nine months of 2024. In August, 47 young men were rescued from Laos.