NIA chargesheets two in organised human trafficking syndicate case

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday chargesheeted two accused in an organised human trafficking case involving Chinese companies based in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Laos.

"While accused Balwant @Bobby Kataria, a social media influencer, has been arrested, his associate Ankit Shokeen, currently based in Laos, is absconding, as per the chargesheet filed before the Special NIA Court Panchkula, Haryana," as per a NIA press release.
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 so lured, were being handed over to Chinese companies in Laos, where they were forced to carry out cyber frauds/scams under harsh, strenuous and restrictive conditions, NIA stated.

"The Chinese companies used to confiscate passports of the victims and they were also subjected to physical and mental torture in the event of non-performance or refusal to carry out cyber frauds, investigations have revealed," as per the release.

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, NIA stated.
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 RC-07/2024/NIA/DLI are continuing, in order to identify the other accused involved in the racket and demolish the entire syndicate.