Woman working for international cyber slavery network arrested in Gujarat; at least 6 held so far

Ahmedabad, Nov 25 (PTI) The Gujarat police have arrested a Vadodara-based woman allegedly working for international gangs involved in trafficking job aspirants to Myanmar and Thailand for "cyber slavery", the case in which at least five others, including its kingpin, have been held earlier, officials said.

The accused, Payal Chauhan, allegedly lured people from the state with promises of high-paying jobs abroad and trafficked them to Southeast Asian countries, where they were forced to work for international cyber crime syndicates, the Cyber Centre for Excellence of the Gujarat Criminal Investigation Department (CID-Crime) said in a release on Tuesday.

As per the preliminary probe, Chauhan, a resident of Gorwa area of Vadodara city, used to work as a sub-agent of Nilesh aka Neel Purohit, the alleged kingpin of this cyber slavery network in Gujarat, who was arrested last week by the CID-Crime, it said.

Purohit had allegedly supplied Indian workers to 'cyber slavery' compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia. The gang used to offer lucrative data entry jobs in Thailand and Myanmar. Once the job aspirants agreed, their tickets were arranged, and upon arrival at airports in those countries, they were handed over to agents connected to a Chinese cyber crime syndicate, the release said.

Pakistani agents were also involved in trafficking people to Myanmar and Thailand, it said.

The passports, mobile phones and all identity documents of the victims were seized immediately. They were then trafficked across borders through illegal routes, including via the Moei River in Myanmar, and transported to areas such as KK Park, known hubs for cybercrime run by criminal groups, it added.

The victims were detained for months and compelled to commit various cyber crimes, such as phishing scams, cryptocurrency fraud, Ponzi schemes, online dating scams and other forms of digital fraud targeting people around the world, it said.

According to the police, the victims who refused to comply or fell short of targets, were subjected to physical violence, deprivation, mental harassment and prolonged confinement.

Many Indians trapped in these camps have been rescued in the past three years through joint operations involving the authorities of the governments of India, Thailand and Myanmar.

Nearly 4,000 Indian nationals repatriated through coordinated efforts of the Ministry of External Affairs, Interpol channels, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central Intelligence Bureau (IB) and state police agencies, the release said.

Many rescued victims told the authorities that they were trapped by Neel Purohit and his sub-agents, including Payal Chauhan, said the release.

She worked in coordination with Purohit, convincing victims to travel to Southeast Asian countries under the guise of legitimate employment. Once the victims reached their destination, they were handed over to Chinese agents.

Chauhan knew the victims would be forced into illegal confinement and cybercrime operations, yet continued to participate for financial gain.

Officials recovered passport images of Pakistani and Nepali nationals from her mobile phone, the release said.

Chauhan was also involved in online cricket betting and providing 'mule' bank accounts for accepting proceeds of crime.

She allegedly handled master IDs for online gaming and cricket betting networks operating from Dubai and Goa, and facilitated illegal cryptocurrency transactions, which were commonly used to settle payments within the cybercrime ecosystem, the release said.

Chauhan's arrest has taken the total number of accused held in the case so far to at least six.

Prior to Purohit's arrest, the CID-Crime had nabbed two of his main associates - sub-agents Hitesh Somaiya and Sonal Faldu. Two more accused involved in the racket, Bhavdeep Jadeja and Hardeep Jadeja, were also arrested. PTI PJT NP