Vizag police unearthed a massive racket of human trafficking of unemployed youth from the city.
Credit: iStock Photo
Hyderabad: Vizag police in Andhra Pradesh is trying to bring back around 300 Indian trafficked youth who had "revolted" in Cambodia and were lodged in jail. Following a complaint from a local person, Vizag police formed seven special teams to unearth a human trafficking and cybercrime racket, and made a few arrests recently.
Following these arrests, many people called up on Vizag City police WhatsApp numbers and sent videos.
“On Monday around 300 Indians revolted against their handlers in Cambodia and caused large scale riots in Jinbei and Compound, Sihanoukville, Cambodia, which is the hub of cybercrime fraud factories. Many of them requested Indian authorities to look into their fate and requested to safely repatriate them into India. We are now contacting the Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) to bring the youth back,” said Vizag city police commissioner, Dr Ravi Shankar Ayyanar.
Based on a victim's complaint, Vizag police unearthed a massive racket of human trafficking of unemployed youth from the city. The gang lured them in the name of providing data-entry operator jobs in Singapore and later trafficked them to Cambodia via Singapore or Bangkok.
In Cambodia, they are held captive, tortured and put under duress to commit cybercrimes on Indians by keeping them in confinement. Their passports are snatched, and are not allowed to speak to their families.
“These gullible youth are trained to carry out specialised cybercrimes such as FedEx scams, stock market frauds, task game frauds, and various other type of cyber frauds on Indian citizens,” said Joint Commissioner of Police, Dr Fakkeerappa Kaginelli, who is the head of the special teams.
Police a few days ago arrested local agents Chukka Rajesh Vijay Kumar, Mannena Gnaneswara Rao, Sabbavarapu Kondala Rao, who had recruited the youth. They provided the names of the youths who landed in Cambodia through these agents.
Around 150 youth from Vizag and surrounding areas have been trafficked to Cambodia since one year and were coerced to commit cybercrime.
“Upon Visakhapatnam City Police contacting them individually or through their family members, they all expressed their hardship and inhumane conditions and torture they are meted out in the hands of Cambodia handlers,” Ravi Shankar said.