New Delhi, The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against five people, including the alleged kingpin of a Cambodia‑linked human‑trafficking and cyber‑slavery racket in which Indian youths were sent to scam centres abroad, officials said on Saturday. The case is part of a broader push against organised networks that lure job‑seekers with false promises of overseas work, PTI reported.
The alleged main accused, Anand Kumar Singh alias Munna Singh, who is currently absconding along with four co‑accused, has been named in the chargesheet filed before the NIA special court in Patna, Bihar, on Friday.
The NIA has described Singh as the main person arranging the recruitment and movement of Indian youths through a group of sub‑agents and travel operators.
The NIA probe has found Anand to be working with associates in Cambodia to illegally move the victims there, an NIA statement issued here on Saturday said. The probe alleges that Singh closely coordinated with Cambodian‑based associates to arrange fake job offers, travel documents, and onward movement to scam sites.
Anand was charging between USD 2,000 and USD 3,000 for each youth “sold” to a fake company, it said. The chargesheet says the victims were first contacted through social‑media groups, WhatsApp chats, and local travel agents, then handed over to a chain of middlemen before being taken abroad.
The accused are said to have lured Indian youths to Cambodia by promising normal jobs and high salaries, as part of an organised human‑trafficking ring.
On arrival, the victims’ passports were taken from them and they were forced to work for “scam companies,” with anyone who resisted faced mental and physical torture, including electric shocks, confinement, and being denied food and water, the NIA said. Many were made to pretend they were call‑centre or online‑gaming staff while actually running advance‑fee frauds and similar scams against people in India and other countries. similar scams against people in India and elsewhere.
Three of the charge‑sheeted co‑accused — Abhay Nath Dubey and Rohit Yadav, both from Uttar Pradesh, and Abhiranjan Kumar from Bihar — were arrested in February this year when they arrived here from Cambodia, according to the NIA.
The fifth accused, identified as Prahlad Kumar Singh, is out on bail.
Investigation to trace other members of the syndicate and uncover the full conspiracy is still ongoing, the NIA statement said.
