Gang involved in trafficking youth to Laos on pretext of overseas employment busted in Jagtial

Four members of an inter-State cyber fraud gang involved in trafficking youth to Laos on the pretext of overseas employment were arrested by the Jagtial police on Friday (February 20).

The accused were identified as Islavath Vijayender alias Andrew of Obulapur Thanda in Mallapur mandal, Meesala Rajashekar and Dandugula Kalyan of Sarangapur mandal, Shyam Rao of Dharmapuri, in Jagtial district and Raju of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The fifth accused, Raju, is currently in Laos.

Giving the details of their arrest at a press conference in Jagtial on Friday, Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said the prime accused, Vijayender, went to Laos in November, 2024, and joined a cyber fraud network operating in that country.

He was promised a commission of 13,000 Yuan (approximately ₹1.75 lakh) for each person recruited and sent to Laos. Subsequently, he started recruiting youth from Jagtial and its surrounding areas.

The accused collected amounts ranging from ₹75,000 to ₹1,05,000 from each victim under the guise of “Call Centre Jobs in Bangkok.”

The victims were initially sent to Thailand’s capital Bangkok on tourist visas and later illegally transported across the border to Laos through agents, the SP said, adding that the victims were forced to work in cyber call centres allegedly operated under Chinese companies.

Explaining the modus operandi, the SP said fake social media accounts were created using the names of American influencers, targeting primarily Indians residing in the U.S. for online financial frauds. Victims who refused to cooperate were threatened, and their passports were confiscated to prevent their return.