Mastermind’ of ‘cyber slavery’ racket arrested: Gujarat Police

Neel Purohit – while trying to flee to Malaysia – was arrested from Gandhinagar by the CCoE team using technical analysis. His two main associates, sub-agents Hitesh Somaiya and Sonal Faldu, as well as two more accused in this racket, Bhavdeep Jadeja and Hardeep Jadeja, were also placed under arrest, according to police.

A case against four accused – including Purohit – was registered at the Cyber Centre of Excellence, Gandhinagar for offences related to human trafficking with criminal conspiracy. A local court on Tuesday granted 14 days remand of Purohit to the CCoE.

According to a government statement on Tuesday, “The investigation revealed that Nilesh Purohit was running a highly organised international cyber-slavery network. He was managing more than 126 sub-agents. The accused was in touch with more than 30 Pakistani agents and had direct connections with the HR network of more than 100 Chinese and foreign companies, which were supplying people to the cyber-fraud scam camps.”

The statement further said, “It has been found that the accused had made deals to send more than 1,000 citizens abroad for cyber slavery. In fact, he had just sent a Punjabi youth to Cambodia the day before he was arrested. It has also been found during the investigation that the accused had travelled to Dubai (UAE), Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Iran.”

Purohit is accused of booking tickets to Southeast Asian countries and sending more than 500 citizens of countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Benin and Tunisia for cyber slavery to Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, either directly or via Dubai.

The investigation has revealed that Purohit was “managing and controlling the recruitment, trafficking routes, financial arrangements and cross-border connections for this entire international network”.

Modus Operandi

The accused used to lure citizens with high-paying data entry jobs for social media platforms such as Telegram, Instagram and Facebook. The passports of the victims were confiscated and they were held hostage. They were then illegally smuggled across the border via the Moei River to Chinese hubs like KK Park at the infamous Myawaddy Township in Myanmar and forced to commit cybercrimes like phishing, crypto scams, Ponzi schemes and dating app fraud. Those who did not cooperate were allegedly subjected to physical and mental harassment.

The government statement said that Purohit was earning a commission of around $ 2,000 to $ 4,500 (Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs 3.7 lakh) per person, of which he was giving 30 to 40 percent to sub-agents. The entire racket involved transactions worth crores through mule accounts and more than five crypto wallets to hide financial transactions.

The Indian government – in collaboration with the Thailand and Myanmar governments – carried out operations with the help of the Army, in which about 4,000 Indian citizens have been rescued and brought back through special flights in the last three years. Most of these victims named Neel Purohit as the agent in their statements, who proved to be the key link in this racket.