Kingpin of international cyber slavery network held by Gujarat Police

Ahmedabad, Nov 18 (PTI) Gujarat Police has nabbed the alleged kingpin of an international cyber slavery network being operated by Chinese gangs from Myanmar and Cambodia, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi said on Tuesday.

The Cyber Centre for Excellence of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID-Crime) arrested Nilesh Purohit alias Neel who allegedly supplied Indian workers to 'cyber slavery' scam compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia, the minister told the media.

Purohit, known as 'The Ghost', was arrested from Gandhinagar while he was allegedly planning to flee to Malaysia, said Sanghavi, the Gujarat home minister.

The CID-Crime had recently nabbed two of Purohit's main associates, sub-agents Hitesh Somaiya and Sonal Faldu. Two more accused involved in the racket, Bhavdeep Jadeja and Hardeep Jadeja, have also been arrested, said Sanghavi.

These sub-agents were accused of running a human trafficking racket where job aspirants were promised high-paying jobs abroad and then forced to work for a cybercrime syndicate, said an official release.

"The investigation revealed that Nilesh Purohit was running a highly organized international cyber-slavery network. He was managing more than 126 sub-agents," Sanghavi told reporters.

"The accused was in touch with more than 30 Pakistani agents and had direct connections with more than 100 Chinese and foreign companies which supplied people to cyber-fraud scam camps," he added.

The accused had made deals to send another over 1,000 people to Cambodia and Myanmar, said the government release.

Only a day before he was arrested, Purohit had allegedly sent a man from Punjab to Cambodia. It has also been found that the accused had travelled to Dubai, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Iran, the release said.

The accused had allegedly sent more than 500 persons from countries including India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Benin and Tunisia to Myanmar and Cambodia for cyber slavery.

Purohit allegedly managed and controlled recruitment, trafficking routes, financial arrangements and cross-border connections for the entire international network, said the release.

Job aspirants were lured with the promise of high-paying data entry jobs abroad through social media platforms like Telegram, Instagram and Facebook.

Their passports were confiscated and they were held hostage while being trafficked across the border to Myanmar. Once reaching Myanmar, they were forced to commit cybercrimes such as phishing, crypto scams, Ponzi scams and dating app frauds. If they did not cooperate, they were subjected to physical and mental torture, the release said.

As per the preliminary investigation, Purohit earned a commission of around Rs. 1.6 lakh to Rs. 3.7 lakh per person, and paid 30 to 40 percent of the amount to his sub-agents.

The racket involved transactions worth crores of rupees through mule accounts and more than five crypto wallets for hiding the money trail, said the release. PTI PJT PD KRK