APCID rescues 22 youths trapped in cybercrime compound in Myanmar

In a joint operation, the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) police, in association with various Central government agencies, rescued 22 youths who were trapped in a cybercrime compound at Myawaddy in Myanmar.

A team of CID officials, headed by its Director General of Police Ravi Shankar Ayyanar and Superintendent of Police Adhiraj Singh Rana, has rescued 120 youths who were lured into cyber slavery.

“Cyber fraudsters lured youths from Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Kadapa, Vizianagaram and other districts by promising high-profile jobs in the IT sector and forced them to do online frauds,” Mr. Adhiraj Singh Rana told the media at the CID headquarters on Monday.

Cyber offenders of Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos trafficked the youths from India. The youths were detained and forced to commit cyber frauds, the CID (Cybercrime) SP said.

Mr. Ayyanar, who monitored the operation with the international agencies, appreciated the team for rescuing the youths and reuniting them with their families.

CID Deputy SP B. Ravi Kiran said the Andhra Pradesh Police had coordinated with Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) and the Embassies concerned and busted the international human trafficking racket.

The fraudsters would post notifications on various social media groups, news agencies, and recruit youths by conducting online interviews. They would offer jobs in digital marketing, customer support centres, data entry and other wings in the IT sector, the police said.

Later, the fraudsters would send flight tickets to the selected youth, pick them up at the airports. The mediators will accompany the youths to cybercrime compounds, where they would be detained for the several months, the SP explained.

“In the last three months, 1,586 Indian youths were rescued from cybercrime hubs, of whom 120 belonged to Andhra Pradesh. We are trying to bring back the remaining victims with the help of MHA, MEA, NIA and other agencies,” Mr. Adhiraj Singh Rana said.