KOCHI: The police are in pursuit of a Fort Kochi native accused of luring young people to Laos with the promise of high-paying jobs and then forcing them to work for companies involved in cyber fraud. A case was filed at the Nedumbassery police station after a victim, also from Fort Kochi, returned from Laos.
The case involves allegations against a person named Motilal for human trafficking and fraud. “Motilal approached the victim in March offering a job in the insurance sector with a promised salary of around `1 lakh. The victim paid Rs 85,000 for the opportunity. After being taken to Dubai, the work visa for Laos was arranged for the victim,” said a police officer.
However, contrary to the promised job, the victim was placed in a call centre engaged in cyber fraud activities in India. “The employees were provided with fake IDs of Indians and NRIs to carry out online scams related to investment schemes and apps, promising substantial profits to deceive people. Additionally, the victims were not paid as promised and were compelled to work long hours daily,” the officer said.
“It is suspected that Motilal worked as a recruiter for cyber fraud firms in Laos on a commission basis and there may be more victims. Efforts are under way to locate Motilal, as there are indications that several people were deceived and recruited into similar call centres,” the cop added.
The NIA is also investigating human trafficking cases with similar patterns in other states. It has been revealed that in addition to Laos, similar call centres carrying out cyber fraud activities are recruiting young sters to Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries.
In a related development, a resident of Palluruthy was arrested for deceiving several youngsters from Kerala with the offer of lucrative jobs in Laos. The probe uncovered that the accused had defrauded over 50 people in Kerala.