VISAKHAPATNAM: On Friday evening, 25 of the 58 individuals from Visakhapatnam who were trafficked to Cambodia returned home, landing at Visakhapatnam International Airport.

The victims were part of a larger group of 150 people from Andhra Pradesh who were lured to Singapore with false job promises, only to be taken captive in Cambodia. There, they were tortured and forced into cybercrimes targeting Indian citizens.

Visakhapatnam Commissioner of Police Dr. A. Ravi Shankar emphasized that the rescued individuals will be treated as victims. "We will not file cases against them, as they sought legitimate employment. Our focus is on gathering information to act against the actual traffickers," he stated.

The police are in contact with the remaining victims through WhatsApp and plan to rescue them once legal procedures are completed. The duration of captivity varied from one year to three months.

Commissioner Shankar recounted the victims' harrowing experiences, describing how they were deprived of food, locked in dark rooms, and physically beaten with baseball bats. 

Previous Next

Their meals were contingent on their performance in deceiving people; underperforming victims received one meal a day, while those who successfully defrauded others received two meals and even parties.

Initial victim statements revealed that middlemen charged Rs 1.5 lakh from each individual, handing them over to Chinese agents. These agents trained them in cybercrimes, including FedEx scams and stock market frauds. These scams have reportedly swindled an estimated Rs 120 crore in Visakhapatnam alone. Recently, a new FIR was filed for a victim who lost Rs 3.2 crore in a FedEx scam.

A team led by Joint Commissioner of Police K. Fakirappa and Cyber Crime Inspector Bhavani will collect detailed information from the victims, including data, bank transactions, and videos, to further investigate and apprehend the culprits. The police plan to launch a large-scale awareness program for youth to prevent similar incidents, noting that such issues have also been reported in the Middle East.

Shankar revealed that nearly 70 agents and sub-agents operate in Visakhapatnam alone. "We have already gathered details of these agents and will verify their licenses to take appropriate action," he explained.

Twenty teams have been formed to pursue various leads, focusing on agents, passports, bank transactions, the Bureau of Immigration, call detail records, and email records.

"We will collect all details related to these transnational crimes through the Ministries of External Affairs and Home Affairs, and collaborate with Cambodian officials to prevent future occurrences," Commissioner Shankar concluded.

For More Updates: Follow Us https://www.instagram.com/hellovizag.in/