NIA
– Photo: PTI
Expansion
Continuing its crackdown on human trafficking and cyber fraud case involving Laos and other South East Asian countries, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested four key accused from Delhi. The accused have been identified as Manzoor Alam alias Guddu, Sahil of Delhi, Ashish alias Akhil of Bahadurgarh (Haryana) and Pawan Yadav alias Afroz alias Afzal of Siwan (Bihar). They are part of an organised trafficking syndicate that lures Indian youth on the pretext of offering lucrative jobs and smuggles them to foreign countries.
The National Investigation Agency said in its statement that foreign nationals operate large networks through operators in various parts of Laos. The trafficked youth were forced to work in fake call centers in Laos, the Golden Triangle SEZ and other places in the Southeast Asian region. Through these call centers, the youth were forced to carry out illegal online activities such as investment scams, relationship scams and cryptocurrency scams.
The NIA, which took over the case from the Delhi Police on June 19 this year, is continuing its investigation to bust all such human trafficking syndicates. In May, the agency conducted extensive searches at 15 locations in six states and two Union Territories in collaboration with the respective state/UT police. Eight new FIRs were registered in human trafficking and cyber fraud cases during the searches. Subsequently in June, the NIA filed a chargesheet against five accused, including foreign nationals, in a similar case in Mumbai.