NIA arrests key accused in Laos cyber slavery case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has made a major breakthrough in the Laos human trafficking and cyber slavery case with the arrest of an absconding accused Kamran Haider, who was nabbed with the support of the Delhi Police Special Cell.

Haider was directly involved in arranging flight tickets and documents for the victims and in facilitating their illegal border crossings, with the help of contacts in the Golden Triangle Region.

NIA had chargesheeted Kamran and four others in October this year in the case relating to a well-organised network of traffickers and touts involved in various illegal activities. The four co-accused were identified as Manjoor Alam, alias Guddu, Sahil, Ashish, alias Akhil, Pawan Yadav, alias Afzal.

All the accused were “actively involved” in sending vulnerable Indian youngsters to the Golden Triangle region in Lao PDR (Laos), where they were allegedly forced to commit cyber scams targeting European and US citizens, the NIA said.

They allegedly operated through a consultancy firm, Ali International Services, which functioned as a front for human trafficking, NIA investigations have revealed.