CHENNAI: The state cyber crime wing has arrested a 35-year-old man from Madurai for allegedly trafficking Indian nationals to cyber scam compounds in Cambodia and forcing them into online fraud operations.
The suspect, identified as Madhan Vadivel, was arrested from Madurai by a special police team attached to the State Cyber Crime Investigation Centre following a complaint from a victim based in Tirupathur district.
Investigators said the victim had been lured with promises of a high-paying overseas job in Cambodia. After collecting the money, the suspect allegedly arranged travel documents and facilitated his movement to Cambodia, where he was handed over to operators running cyber scam centres.
Police said the victim was confined inside the scam compound and coerced into carrying out online financial fraud and cyber scam. He eventually escaped, approached the Indian Embassy for assistance, and safely returned to India.
According to the Cyber Crime Wing, the investigation revealed Vadivel functioned as a “kingpin recruiter and facilitator” in an organised cyber slavery trafficking network targeting Indian job seekers.
The officials said he has links with foreign nationals operating scam compounds in Cambodia and is involved in running more than four restaurants under the name ‘Jallikattu’ inside various cyber scam compounds over the past few years. The restaurants allegedly supplied Indian food to trafficked victims housed within the compounds.
Investigators further found the suspect had established a network involving travel agents, immigration officials and taxi drivers operating across Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Through the network, hundreds of Indian nationals are suspected to have been trafficked over the past three years, the police said, adding the suspect received commissions for each recruitment and facilitation. During the arrest, the police seized mobile phones, SIM cards, and passport-related documents linked to the case.
Further investigation is under way to trace additional victims, recruiters, financial transactions and international links connected to the organised cyber fraud and human trafficking network operating from Cambodia, the officials said.
The Cyber Crime Wing also urged the public to verify overseas job offers only through authorised recruitment agencies and official government channels.
