Delhi Police arrests two in Myanmar cyber-slavery ring

The Delhi police on Friday arrested two men for recruiting and trafficking Indian nationals to Myanmar to work in “large-scale cyberfraud operations”.

Danish Raja, 24, of Bawana in Delhi, and Harsh, 30, of Faridabad in Haryana were arrested based on a complaint lodged by a man who was among nearly 500 Indian nationals taken to Myanmar’s Myawaddy as “cyber-slaves” and repatriated by the Indian Air Force earlier this month, the police said on Saturday. “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.

One of the repatriated persons, Imtiyaz Babu of Bawana, had lodged the complaint stating that he was lured by the promise of a “high-paying data-entry job abroad”, said an officer. Mr. Babu told the police that he was instead trafficked via Kolkata and Bangkok to Myawaddy, where he was confined, assaulted, and forced to commit cyberfraud targeting U.S. nationals.

“Armed guards oversaw the operations to prevent escape,” he said. Based on his complaint, an FIR was registered on November 20 under relevant provisions of the BNS and the Immigration Act, the officer said. He added that other deportees from Delhi were examined in coordination with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, following which legal action was initiated.

“During interrogation, Danish Raja admitted to his association with people running cyberfraud operations in Myanmar. He had himself been recruited into one such illegal firm by deceit and deported in March 2020. However, he continued recruitment activities in India even after deportation,” said the officer.

During the arrests, the police seized two mobile phones. “Analysis of the devices is under way. Efforts are also on to trace the money trail, identify additional recruiters, and nab other syndicate members,” the officer said.

Escape to Thailand

The Indian nationals were evacuated in batches from Thailand’s Mae Sot, to which they had crossed from Myawaddy after a crackdown by the Myanmar military on cyberfraud centres in October. This forced workers of multiple nationalities to cross into Thailand, where they were detained for entering without valid documents.