Two arrested in human trafficking racket case linked to international cybercrime in Visakhapatnam
The accused have been identified as L. Suresh and Adilakshmi, both residents of Gajuwaka.
With the arrest of the duo, the police were able to prevent five youths from being trafficked out of the country.
Addressing the media, Police Commissioner Shankabrata Bagchi said that the accused were running a recruitment agency that targeted unemployed youth, promising them computer-based jobs abroad.
The victims were sent to countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Bangkok, and were trapped by cybercrime offenders and forced into illegal activities, he said, adding that the kingpin of the racket has been identified as Vijay Kumar, who is suspected of recruiting at least 150 individuals for such overseas scams.
Explaining the modus operandi, Mr. Bagchi said the cybercrime offenders would create fake social media profiles to target elderly and influential people. These fraudsters would lure victims into schemes involving cryptocurrency investments, instant loan offers, honey traps, digital arrests and various financial scams.
Mr. Bagchi urged the youth to thoroughly verify the licence of recruitment agencies before engaging with them.
He also warned the youth against getting involved in such scams, saying that it might have serious legal consequences, including the issuing of lookout notices.
The Police Commissioner also urged the parents to ensure that their children working with such companies return to India promptly.
Mr. Bagchi revealed that approximately 150 individuals from the city were currently working with such cybercrime organisations abroad, adding that the police have rescued 87 of them till date.
In a bid to create awareness about Cambodia-based job frauds and the dangers of fake job agencies, the police released a poster. These posters will be available at all police stations across the city.
'Nava Samaja Nirmanam'
Earlier in the day, Mr. Bagchi launched a programme titled 'Nava Samaja Nirmanam' at Dr. L. Bullayya College. The motto of the programme was to create awareness about drug abuse, road safety and cybercrimes.
Mr. Bagchi sensitised a large gathering of students on the current issues and administered them with a pledge to stay away from drugs and cybercrimes.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Unverified: Probe body rejects US media report on 'pilot's role' in Air India crash
India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Thursday called out the US-based The Wall Street Journal for its report on a "pilot's role" in the Air India Flight 171 crash that killed 260, calling it unverified and selective reporting. The bureau said it was too early to jump to conclusions and wait for the final report to be a statement, the AAIB said that its preliminary findings into the Air India crash were to provide information about "what" happened and that an investigation into the tragedy was still not is essential to respect the sensitivity of the loss faced by family members of the passengers, crew of the aircraft and other persons on the ground who died. It has come to our attention that certain sections of the international media are repeatedly attempting to draw conclusions through selective and unverified reporting. Such actions are irresponsible, especially while the investigation remains ongoing," the AAIB said. The Wall Street Journal, citing an assessment by US officials, said the black box recording indicated that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, turned off the fuel control switches, seconds after AI 171 crashed into a resident doctors' hostel in Ahmedabad after takeoff."We urge both the public and the media to refrain from spreading premature narratives that risk undermining the integrity of the investigative process," AAIB said in the statement."The purpose of the AAIB's investigation and preliminary report is to provide information about 'what' happened. The preliminary report has to be seen in this light. At this stage, it is too early to reach any definite conclusions. The investigation by the AAIB is still not complete. The final investigation report will come out with root causes and recommendations," the body AAIB also said that the probe was being undertaken "in a rigorous and most professional manner in accordance with rules and international protocols"."While the accident of this dimension has drawn public attention and shock, however, it needs to be appreciated that this is not the time to create public anxiety or angst regarding the safety of the Indian aviation industry, particularly on the basis of unfounded facts," the bureau further DID THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORT SAY?AI 171 was being commanded by 56-year-old Sabharwal, who had a total flying experience of 15,638 hours, and First Officer Clive Kunder, 32, who had 3,403 hours of total after takeoff, the first officer asked the captain why he moved the switches from "run" to the "cutoff" position, the report said. After noticing it, the first officer panicked, while the captain seemed to remain calm, The Wall Street Journal report Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which was on its way to London, crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel building in Ahmedabad within seconds of takeoff. The tragedy left 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew on board and 19 others on the ground, initial probe report, released by the AAIB, revealed that the fuel control switches of the Boeing 787 flipped from a "run" to a "cutoff" position within a second of each other after fuel control switches regulate fuel flow into a plane's engines. The AAIB report, however, does not mention if the switches were moved by either of the pilots to the "cutoff" report does mention one pilot asking the other why he cut off the fuel supply, with the other responding he did not. However, the full transcript of the conversation was never released, prompting several theories on social have said that accidental movement of the switches was not possible. On Wednesday, Air India said inspections of the locking mechanism of fuel control switches across its fleet of Boeing 787 aircraft found no government has said the AAIB report was a preliminary assessment and urged the people and the media to refrain from jumping to conclusions until the final findings are released, which may take a year.- EndsTune InMust Watch IN THIS STORY#Air India#Ahmedabad Plane Crash#Ahmedabad
New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
CBI uses AI-powered image search to arrest Bengaluru bank fraud accused in Indore after 19 years
BHOPAL: A woman accused of allegedly cheating the State Bank of India (SBI) in Bengaluru of Rs 8 crore between 2002 and 2005 has been traced and arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, nearly two decades later. Back in 2006, the CBI registered a case against a Bengaluru-based couple, RM Shekhar and Mani M Shekhar, who were the managing director of Indo Marks Private Limited and director of Indo Marks Private Limited and BTC Home Products Private Limited, respectively. The couple was accused of allegedly cheating the SBI Overseas Branch, Bengaluru, to the tune of Rs 8 crore through the misuse of non-fund-based limits in the name of Indo Marks Private Limited and its sister concerns. The CBI charge-sheeted them in December 2007, but the couple allegedly failed to join the trial or respond to multiple summons and warrants, after which they were declared proclaimed offenders by the designated CBI court in February 2009. The CBI tried extensively to trace them, but they remained untraceable, leading the agency to announce a reward of Rs 50,000 each for any information leading to their arrest. While other co-accused were tried and either convicted or acquitted in the case, the trial against the absconding couple remained pending. A sustained investigation by the CBI revealed that the couple had allegedly changed identities and never used their old KYC details. While RM Shekhar assumed the identity of Krishna Kumar Gupta, his wife Mani M Shekhar allegedly began living as Geetha Krishna Kumar Gupta. The couple had also changed their mobile phone numbers, email IDs, PAN numbers and all other information that had been used prior to the 2007 charge sheet. Based on specific intelligence inputs, the CBI leveraged the advanced analytical capabilities of image search tools to trace the digital footprints of the absconding accused. The image comparison and analysis tools led to the identification of the two individuals living under their assumed identities in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. 'With photo matching levels of more than 90%, the image search tools enabled accurate identification despite their assumed identities,' a CBI official said. Acting on this identification, a CBI team, after meticulous field verification, successfully traced the accused to Indore, where they had been residing under their new names. Subsequent search operations revealed that RM Shekhar had died in 2008, a year after being charge-sheeted by the CBI and a year before he and his wife were declared proclaimed offenders by the court. He had been living under the identity of Krishna Kumar Gupta. Co-accused Mani M Shekhar, now known as Geetha Krishna Kumar Gupta, was finally arrested on 12 July and subsequently produced before the court in Bengaluru, which remanded her to judicial custody for further trial proceedings.
NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
Probe Agency Chargesheet Against Robert Vadra In Gurugram Land Deal Case
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has filed a charge sheet against Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in a money laundering case linked to a land deal in Haryana's Shikohpur, official sources said on Thursday. This is the first time that any probe agency has filed a prosecution complaint against 56-year-old Vadra in a criminal case. Sources said the charge sheet has been filed against Vadra and some others before a local court here under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was questioned by the federal investigative agency for three consecutive days in April. The probe against Vadra is linked to the land deal in Haryana's Manesar-Shikohpur (now sector 83) in Gurugram. The deal of February 2008 was done by a company named Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd, where Vadra was a director earlier, as it purchased a 3.5 acre of land in Shikohpur from Onkareshwar Properties at a price of Rs 7.5 crore. A Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda was in power at that time. Four years later, in September 2012, the company sold the land to realty major DLF for Rs 58 crore. The land deal got embroiled in controversy in October 2012 after IAS officer Ashok Khemka, then posted as the director general of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector-General of Registration of Haryana, cancelled the mutation of this categorising the transaction as violative of state consolidation act and some related procedures. Vadra has always denied wrongdoing and has said the case was a "political vendetta" against him and his family that comprises former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. The ED is investigating Vadra in two other cases including one against UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari and a land deal in Rajasthan's Bikaner.
