Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Suspected of being forced into ‘cyber slavery’, Cyber Crime Cell is carrying out verification of 40 individuals of Bhopal who have flown to Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam on visitor visas but are yet to return. These individuals are from different areas of Bhopal and the Cyber Cell has shared their details with concerned police stations for conducting ground verification. Cyber Cell officials said that the list of such persons have been forwarded to 19 police stations in the city for contacting their family members.
Bureau of Immigration last year has compiled a data of over 29k Indians who travelled to south-east Asian countries--Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam between 2022 and May 2024 but are yet to return. These individuals were under the age of 39 with majority of them from Punjab, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Delhi, Gujarat and others while a smaller number from Madhya Pradesh.
The data was shared with the state governments by a Central government constituted panel after reports of such individuals being forced into cyber slavery surfaced increasingly. It came to the fore that many Indians in these south-east Asian countries were lured of lucrative job offers and were forced into committing cyber frauds usually using threats and violence. In many such cases, their passport and other documents were seized by their employers. The victims were forced to make fake profiles on social media platforms to lure Indians into crypto currency, online gaming and share trading scams besides cases of digital arrest and other cybercrimes. Many such individuals were rescued by the Indian embassies in these countries last year. Investigation in majority of cases of cybercrimes have indicated that their kingpins were based in south-east Asian countries.
Cyber cell forwards details of individuals
The Cyber Crime Cell has forwarded details of 40 such individuals of Bhopal to 19 police stations in the city which include Ayodhya Nagar, Piplani, Kamla Nagar, Koh-e-Fiza, Govindpura, Aishbag, Jehangirabad, Kolar, Misrod and Shahjehanabad among others.
Police tracing addresses of persons stationed abroad
Cyber Crime Cell officials said that police are tracing the address of persons who are in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam to note that for how long they were in these countries and for what purpose. Their kin are being asked if they were in regular contact with these persons or they suspect any scam. Moreover, their age, educational qualification and others are also being collected. On the basis of details gathered it will be established if they are trapped in cyber slavery, officials said.
Victims forced to give wrong info
With threat and violence used as a tool on individuals trapped into cyber slavery, police officials suspect that they were forced to give wrong information regarding their situation to their kin in India as none of the family has yet come forward with any such complaint themselves.
Details of victims forwarded to ps ACP
Cyber Crime Sujeet Tiwari said the details of such individuals have been forwarded to concerned police stations and they were conducting a ground verification of such persons.
