Five FIRs, a network spread across at least three states, agents from Pakistan to China, and at least 500 “victims” trapped in “cyber slavery”, over a period of less than two years. This is the list of alleged findings drawn up by the Gujarat Police against 29-year-old Nilesh Purohit, alias Neel, alias ‘The Ghost’.
Since they finally nabbed him more than 20 days ago, police say they have been trying to unravel the web of operations spun by Purohit, who has come a long way from his home in Anand, and the catering firm run by his parents.
The arrest was touch and go. Looking for Purohit, whose name reportedly kept coming up among people rescued from the network of cyber slavery, a team of Gujarat Police was on its way from Gandhinagar to Anand – a distance of around 100 km – on November 16 when they got another tip-off. The head office of the Cyber Centre of Excellence said it had traced Purohit’s location to Ahmedabad itself, more precisely to somewhere near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
The airport police and security agencies were informed not to let Purohit board any flight, even as the police team sped to the airport and arrested him as he walked to the international terminal, ostensibly on his way to Malaysia. Had they been a few minutes late, say police, ‘The Ghost’ would have vanished again.
The next day, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi was present for the announcement of Purohit’s arrest. Sent separately to police remand in two cases, he is now in judicial custody at Sabarmati Central Jail.
The 29-year-old faces five FIRs, for alleged human trafficking, among other charges, including two by the Cyber Centre of Excellence of the Gandhinagar Zonal Police Station CID, one by the Surat City Police, and one each by the cyber crime cells of Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Officials said the CBI too is investigating Purohit’s role, in at least two cases of international cyber slavery. Just a day before his arrest, he was alleged to have sent a youth from Punjab to Cambodia.
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According to a statement by the Cyber Centre of Excellence after his arrest, Purohit is accused of “sending more than 500 citizens of countries like India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Benin and Tunisia for cyber slavery in Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand either directly or via Dubai”.
Past life
The Purohits are originally from Rajasthan but have been settled in Anand for decades. According to police, after deciding not to pursue studies beyond Class 12 or to carry on the family’s catering business, Purohit first tried his hand at running a finance business. However, it failed to take off.
In early 2024, Purohit left for the UAE, specifically Dubai, looking for better opportunities. He had got a job at a firm located in Dubai Investment Park, via an agent.
This firm was allegedly involved in cybercriminal activities. An investigator said Purohit met Pakistani and Chinese agents here, who introduced him to the “possibilities” that lay in the global cyber slavery ecosystem.
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Officials said Purohit decided to see the system firsthand before jumping in, and travelled to Thailand, from where he entered Myanmar illegally, and went to the sites from where cyber fraud operations were run.
One of the camps Purohit allegedly visited was the notorious K K Park, a hub of international cybercriminal operations allegedly run by a Chinese gang. Recently, the Myanmar army carried out a crackdown on scamming sites such as K K Park, following global pressure. Many employees forced to work at these sites escaped before the raids, with the largest chunk being Indians.
Over the last three years, the Indian government, in collaboration with its Thai and Myanmarese counterparts, has brought back 4,000 citizens through special flights from camps such as K K Park.
K K Park
As per police, sometime in mid-2024, Purohit tested the route popular with those involved in cyber scams – a flight to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, trip by car to Tak City, 450 km to the north, a 15-20 km hike through the jungles east of Tak City, a boat ride on the Moei or Thaungyin river to cross the international border into Myanmar, and then a short hike to the K K Park area of Myawaddy Township.
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Police say Purohit differed from other “agents” who claim they were first trafficked themselves, by saying he entered this line of business willingly. Sources say Purohit stayed for a little over a month at K K Park, learning the ropes.
Inspector Manali Radadiya, who is the Investigation Officer (IO) in the case, says Purohit was successful almost immediately due to his good relations with other agents.
For every cyber slave he “supplied”, he earned a commission of Rs 1.76 lakh-Rs 3.96 lakh in dollars. Even after passing on 30%-40% to sub-agents who identified the youths desperate for jobs, Purohit was left with decent earnings.
Police believe Purohit trafficked his first person from Gujarat to Myanmar via Thailand, in October 2024.
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To manage the amount of money that was coming in, Purohit allegedly used mule accounts and more than five Binance crypto wallets.
Once trapped, the victims could not leave easily. Those at K K Park, for example, were forced to sign two-year contracts, and pay between Rs 3.5 lakh-Rs 5 lakh if they wanted to leave before that.
Officials believe Purohit set up a base in Bangkok, and lured his victims by offering everything from booking their tickets to arranging logistics with Chinese agents to ferry them to K K Park.
The Cyber Centre of Excellence officials said estimates Purohit “managed” more than 126 sub-agents, who in turn were in touch with more than 30 Pakistani agents, and that the network included more than 100 Chinese and foreign companies at the other end, looking to use these cyber slaves.
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“Purohit reached out to prospective victims through WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook and Instagram, advertising job opportunities, and slowly developed a sub-agent network. It also spread through word-of-mouth. The advertisements would be for well-paying jobs to just do data entry,” says Inspector Radadiya.
As per the centre, at least 22 youths from Gujarat were directly trafficked out of India by Purohit. The rest, from Gujarat and other states, as well as other countries, are being confirmed one by one, against “a very long” Excel sheet.
The Gujarat Police have also arrested six people who they say were Purohit’s sub-agents in the two cases lodged in the state.
The victims
It was when the people who got hired landed in Bangkok, had their passports taken, and were driven to K K Park accompanied by armed agents, that they started having suspicions. By then it would be too late.
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Amid the cybercrimes the victims were forced into were phishing, crypto scams, Ponzi schemes, and dating app fraud, where they made the calls to unsuspecting targets. According to police, those who resisted faced physical and mental harassment.
Police say that many victims are so traumatised that they haven’t come forward to even file FIRs, which is why in most cases against Purohit and other agents, police officers have filed the complaints on behalf of the state.
While the 29-year-old hid his tracks well, using ‘Ghost’ as his digital identity, the sub-agents reportedly gave him away, leading to his arrest on the cusp of fleeing India.
The Gujarat Police say that when they started getting tips on Purohit, these came in simultaneously from multiple fronts. On November 5, an alleged sub-agent of Purohit, Hitesh Arjan Somaiya of Porbandar, landed in police net for allegedly trafficking 12 youths to Myanmar. On November 13, on the basis of statements from three victims in Junagadh, another sub-agent, Sonal Faldu, was arrested by police.
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Radadiya says both the arrested named Purohit as the agent above them who handled the process after they had identified prospective victims. “Several victims too have taken Purohit’s name, some claim to have met him, others have said they received tickets to Thailand from him.”
The Gujarat Police is also coordinating with police officials in other states that have cases against Purohit.
