Cyber-slavery: 4 Delhiites among 500 rescued from Myanmar

Four of the nearly 500 Indian nationals rescued from “cyber-slavery” in Myanmar were from the national capital, a Delhi police officer said on Sunday.

“Cyber-slavery” refers to the trafficking of individuals through fake job offers, who, upon joining, are coerced physically and psychologically into participating in organised cyberfraud activities.

Three of the Delhi victims were trafficked in August, and the fourth followed a few days later, according to the officer.

Their operators allegedly told the victims to pay $4,000 for their release or remain captive and work as cyber fraudsters. They were trafficked on the pretext of high-paying data-entry jobs in Thailand, but were forced into cybercrime operations.

The officer said various agents recruited the victims – all either 12th pass or graduates – through social media advertisements. From Delhi, they were first taken to Kolkata, then flown to Thailand, and finally transported by river to Myawaddy in Myanmar.

At Myawaddy, guards confined, assaulted, and forced the victims to work under armed supervision.

“The only way out of these confinements is either pay $4,000 [nearly 36 lakh] or through a military operation that raids such compounds and frees those trapped inside,” said Vinit Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations)

“The victims told the police their operators instructed them to make fake profiles of women and lure male US citizens into fake investment opportunities,” the DCP added.

On Friday, the Delhi police arrested two men – Danish Raja, 24, of Bawana in Delhi, and Harsh, 30, of Faridabad in Haryana – for recruiting and trafficking Indian nationals to Myanmar.

The officer said Mr. Raja and Mr. Harsh had also worked at Myawaddy as cyber fraudsters.