CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu police have arrested a middleman from West Bengal, who has been identified as an important link in the cyber slavery case involving trafficking of several Indians to scam compounds in Laos, an official release said.
The accused Shankar Sarkar (33), liased with Chennai-based agents Abdul Kadher and Syed to send nine people from Tamil Nadu to Laos in 2024, collected $1,000 for immigration clearance from the victims, the release said. Sarkar was working as a technician for Taniyan Group and Jinlong Group, two Chinese companies, from 2022-24 in a scamming compound in Laos. Incidentally, he had landed there after Chennai-based agents Kadher and Shoba promised to send him to Serbia as a kitchen helper, for which he paid Rs 3 lakh.
After being promised a commission by an Ethiopian identified as James, Shankar started recruiting Indians for the scam compounds. Of the $1,000 collected from five victims, Shankar received 2,000 Chinese Yuan as commission.
CB-CID issued a look out circular (LOC) against Shankar after identifying his role during the investigation on a complaint by Arun of Salem in July. Syed and Kadher have already been arrested. On December 3, Shankar was detained at the Kolkata airport when he was about to fly to Laos. CB-CID got a transit warrant and remanded him in judicial custody in Salem on Friday, the release added.