CHENNAI: The Cyber Crime Wing of the Tamil Nadu police, in an important breakthrough, has arrested a key operative of an international job fraud and human trafficking network that was operating between India, Thailand and Myanmar, mainly taking people to cyber scam compounds operating out of the junta-ruled Myanmar.
The arrest was made when the individual, whose identity is yet to be revealed by the police, tried to escape by blending with a group of 29 victims who were rescued from cyber scam compounds in Myanmar, and were being repatriated to India.
As many as 395 Indians were rescued recently after the junta raided KK Park in Myawaddy, reportedly a cyber crime hub, adding to the 465 people brought back from similar compounds earlier. The arrest was made as part of Phase II of the ongoing Operation Blue Triangle to crackdown on the cyber crime network, the police said.
The suspect and his associate had allegedly lured a man from Tamil Nadu with a fake tele-caller job offer in Bangkok, collected money for travel and visa arrangements, and then facilitated his kidnap upon landing in Bangkok. The victim was handed over to Chinese cyber criminals and was later taken to a cyber-scam compound in Myanmar, assaulted, confined and forced to create fake social media accounts. Rs 5.40 lakh was extorted from his family members for his release.
The agent was traced and arrested based on an FIR registered at the State Cyber Crime Investigation Centre (SCCIC). His arrest followed field investigations, forensic checks and interrogation of returnees in Delhi and Chennai, which exposed a wider network of agents operating across Tamil Nadu.