The Aryavarth Express
Agency (Visakhapatnam): The Visakhapatnam police have successfully busted a cybercrime racket, arresting three consultancy agents involved in trafficking unemployed youth to Chinese-operated cybercrime rings in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand. This operation was part of an extensive effort to combat rising cybercrime, according to an official release.
The arrested individuals include the main suspect, Chukka Rajesh (33), and his associates, Sabbavarapu Kondala Rao and Mannena Gnaneshwar Rao, all from the Gajuwaka area. The investigation began after Botcha Sankar, an ex-Navy employee, filed a complaint via the 1930 cybercrimes helpline, based on a victim’s account who managed to escape.
Visakhapatnam Commissioner of Police, Ravi Shankar Ayyanar, stated that the police suspect there could be over 5,000 victims from Andhra Pradesh, including areas such as Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Palasa, Rajamundry, Tuni, Amalapuram, and Anantapur, as well as Kolkata. The police are sharing investigation details with the Indian Embassy in Cambodia and are urging parents of victims to contact them and the Indian Embassy.
Cases have been registered against the three local agents for human trafficking, extortion, wrongful confinement, and criminal conspiracy. The investigation revealed a network of agents, including Santosh, Arya, Umamahesh, and Habib, who facilitated the trafficking. The Indian agents in Cambodia coordinated with local agents to arrange people for cybercrimes under the guise of data entry jobs. Each job aspirant paid Rs 1.50 lakh, with Rs 80,000 sent to Cambodian agents for arrangements and the remainder kept as commission.
Upon arrival in Cambodia, the youths were locked up and forced to operate in the cybercrime network, denied food and pay until compliance. They received training before being deployed to commit various online frauds, such as courier scams, cryptocurrency scams, task games, and OTP frauds. Compliant workers were promised a salary of $600, plus incentives and promotions, and were forced to work for at least one year.
During the investigation, police verified facts through video calls with the victims, who shared their hardships. Men and women were sent to countries like Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand, where Chinese companies trained them for 7-10 days before forcing them into cybercrime activities at an average salary of $600 per month. Any resistance resulted in severe punishment, including torture and deprivation of food and water.
Officials estimate that approximately 5,000 people from Andhra Pradesh have fallen victim to this scam over the past two years. Victims traveled to Cambodia on tourist visas, which were later converted to business visas upon joining the Chinese companies. The police are continuing their investigation into the case.