Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Mar 29: Goa Police have uncovered a major international trafficking network involved in running cyber slavery call centres in Southeast Asia, luring victims under the pretext of high-paying work-from-home jobs. The gang, linked to Chinese nationals in Thailand and Cambodia, even planned to set up operations in India, police revealed.

Investigations led to the arrest of three individuals: Adithya Ravichandran (22) from Coimbatore, Rupnarayan Gupta (36) from Mumbai’s Mulund, and Talaniti Nulaxi (22), a Kazakhstan national of Chinese origin.

DGP Alok Kumar stated that the gang used an unregistered Mumbai-based agency to recruit individuals with lucrative overseas job offers. Once the victims reached Thailand and Cambodia, their passports were confiscated, forcing them into cyber fraud operations.

“With the bait of work-from-home jobs, women were also recruited for honeytrap scams. The gang intended to expand into India and Nepal,” Kumar said.

SP Cybercrime Rahul Gupta disclosed that among the 549 Indians recently rescued from cyber slavery call centres in Myanmar, one was from Goa.

The investigation revealed that Ravichandran conducted job interviews on behalf of a larger network, working under Rupnarayan Gupta, who ran ‘Evanka,’ an overseas job recruitment agency.

Gupta provided candidate data, arranged travel, and facilitated victim trafficking. Nulaxi was responsible for coercing victims into committing financial fraud via WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, and Zoom.

The gang operated internationally, maintaining contacts across multiple countries. Police are now investigating whether more individuals from Goa were recruited into cyber slavery.