The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday chargesheeted two accused including bodybuilder and social media influencer Bobby Kataria, in an organised human trafficking case involving Chinese companies. Kataria was arrested by Gurugram Police in May this year in an NIA-police joint operation on the charge of sending people abroad on the pretext of helping them finding jobs, and then forcing them to commit cybercrimes.
Apart from Kataria, his associate Ankit Shokeen, currently based in Laos, is also been named in the chargesheet. A statement issued by NIA said that Ankit is still absconding.
NIA investigations have revealed that both the accused, along with others, were involved in recruiting and transporting innocent jobseekers using deception and false inducements. The victims were lured and then handed over to Chinese companies in Laos, where they were forced to carry out cyber frauds/scams under harsh, strenuous and restrictive conditions, NIA said. The companies involved in the crime are based in the Golden Triangle SEZ in Laos.
NIA Chargesheets 2 in Organised Human Trafficking Syndicate Case pic.twitter.com/jJZ8gTO11T
— NIA India (@NIA_India) August 24, 2024
After the victims arrived in Laos, the Chinese companies used to confiscate the passports of the victims and force them into cybercrime activities. They were also subjected to physical and mental torture in the event of non-performance or refusal to carry out cyber frauds, investigations by NIA have revealed.
The probe agency said that the conspiracy was hatched by Bobby Kataria along with co-accused Ankit Shokeen and others. Together, they had incorporated MBK Global Visa Private Limited, a visa consultancy, and by taking advantage of his popularity among youth, Bobby was attracting job seeking youth with lucrative job offers in countries like Singapore.
After taking advance payments, he would persuade the victims to go to Laos. Many of the victims were eventually rescued from the scammers’ clutches by the joint efforts of the Indian Embassy at Laos and local law enforcement.
Investigations in the case are continuing, in order to identify the other accused involved in the racket and demolish the entire syndicate, NIA said.
Earlier it was reported that Kataria confessed that he used to cheat people by luring them with jobs in foreign countries, and going abroad, the victims were forced to commit cyber fraud. Kataria and his accomplice Manju Singh used to post job vacancies in foreign countries through their social media handles to lure their targets.
As per police, the gang opened offices in several places including Gurugram, Sikar (Rajasthan), Greater Faridabad and Nabha (Punjab). He has so far sent 33 people abroad, of which 12 were sent to Armenia, 2 to Singapore, 4 to Bangkok, 3 to Canada and 12 to Laos. Ankit Shokeen lives in Laos and he collaborated with Kataria in India for the human trafficking operation.
