The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday said it has filed a chargesheet against five people, including the alleged mastermind, in a human trafficking and cyber slavery case linked to Cambodia, in which Indian youth were allegedly lured with fake job offers and forced into illegal work abroad.
The prime suspect named in the chargesheet has been identified as Anand Kumar Singh alias Munna, while the other accused are Abhay Nath Dubey, Abhiranjan Kumar, Rohit Yadav and Prahlad Kumar Singh.
“The accused were involved in luring Indian youth to Cambodia on the pretext of legitimate jobs and lucrative salaries, as part of an organized human trafficking ring. The victims’ passports were seized and they were forced to work in fraudulent companies in Cambodia. Any resistance on their part was met with psychological and physical torture, including electric shocks, forced confinement, deprivation of food and water, etc.,” the agency said in a statement.
NIA investigations found Anand to be the leader involved in recruiting youth through various sub-agents or travel agents in India. The agency added: “He was working with his partners in Cambodia to illegally smuggle victims into that country. He was receiving between 2,000 and 3,000 US dollars for each young man ‘sold’ to a fake company.”
The government last year repatriated about 1,000 citizens who worked in slave compounds in Myanmar.
Multiple agencies are investigating cases of cyber slavery. Investigations conducted by agencies in New Delhi revealed that “slave complexes”, operating in Myanmar and neighboring areas, served as major centers for carrying out digital arrest scams in India.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which also investigates some cases of illegal human trafficking in Southeast Asia, said in a statement last month that money generated at these fraud centers is “controlled by masterminds from Cambodia, China and Hong Kong.”
