New Delhi:

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday arrested a key accused involved in the transnational human trafficking case run by a Sri Lankan having previous links with the LTTE terror outfit, according to an official statement.

The accused Seeni Aabulkhan was nabbed from Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, it said.

Investigations found that he, along with his associates, was involved in confining the trafficked victims in a boat in high sea before sending them to Mangalore (or Mangaluru) by train, car and bikes for further confinement, said the statement issued by the NIA.

“Three years after he had absconded, the NIA on Saturday arrested a key accused in the Sri Lankan human trafficking case run by a Sri Lankan with links with LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) terror organisation,” it said.

The NIA took over the case, which was originally registered by the Mangaluru City Police, after searches led to the rescue of 13 Sri Lankan nationals from the traffickers earlier in June 2021.

The NIA investigations revealed one Sri Lankan, identified as Eesan and having previous links with the terror outfit LTTE, to be the kingpin of the racket.

“He had colluded with the accused to illegally bring 38 Sri Lankan nationals from Sri Lanka to various locations within Tamil Nadu after luring them with false promises,” the probe agency said.

Besides the promise of helping them obtain legitimate documentation for migration to Canada, they were lured with employment opportunities, as per the NIA investigations.

Following detailed investigations, the NIA had charge-sheeted 10 accused, including three absconders, between October 2021 and January 2024. Further investigations are continuing to apprehend the remaining absconders, it added.

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Britain’s wealthiest family, the Hindujas, have said they were “appalled” by a Swiss court’s ruling of jail terms for some members and have filed an appeal in a higher court challenging the verdict finding them guilty of exploiting vulnerable domestic workers from India at their villa in Geneva.

In a statement issued on behalf of the family on Friday, lawyers from Switzerland stressed their clients – Prakash and Kamal Hinduja, both in their 70s and their son Ajay and his wife Namrata – had been acquitted of all human trafficking charges.

They also dismissed media reports that any members of the family faced detention after court reports from Geneva said the four were sentenced to between four and four-and-a-half years in prison.

“Our clients have been acquitted of all human trafficking charges. We are appalled and disappointed by the rest of the decision made in this court of first instance, and we have, of course, filed an appeal to the higher court, thereby making this part of the judgement not effective,” reads the statement signed by lawyers Yael Hayat and Robert Assael and Roman Jordan.

“Under Swiss law, the presumption of innocence is paramount till a final judgement by the highest adjudicating authority is enforced. Contrary to some media reports, there is no effective detention for any members of the family,” they said.

The lawyers also pointed out that “it should also be recalled that the plaintiffs in this case had withdrawn their respective complaints after declaring to the court that they had never intended to be involved in such proceedings”.

“The family has full faith in the judicial process and remains confident that the truth will prevail,” they conclude.

The statement followed a hearing in the Swiss city of Geneva after prosecutors opened the case for alleged illegal activity, including exploitation, human trafficking and violation of Switzerland’s labour laws.

The family members were accused of seizing the workers’ passports, barring them from leaving the villa and forcing them to work very long hours for a pittance in Switzerland, among other things.

Some workers allegedly spoke only Hindi and were paid their wages in rupees in banks back in India that they could not access.

During the trial, prosecutors alleged the family spent more on their dog than on their servants.

The family’s legal team had countered the allegations and told the court the staff were treated respectfully and provided with accommodation.

According to ‘The Sunday Times Rich List’ released last month, the UK-based Hinduja family once again emerged as the country’s richest, with wealth estimated at around GBP 37.196 billion.

They saw this tally increase over the previous year in the wake of the opening of the brand-new luxury OWO Raffles Hotel in the heart of London.

The UK-based family’s group of companies, headed by chairman G.P. Hinduja, operates in 48 countries and across several sectors – automotive, oil and specialty chemicals, banking and finance, IT, cyber security, healthcare, trading, infrastructure project development, media and entertainment, power, and real estate.

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New Delhi:

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed charge sheet against five persons, including two foreign nationals, suspected to be part of an international racket trafficking Indian youths and coercing them to work in fraudulent call centres abroad.

The powerful syndicates also used victim control tactics in case any of the trafficked youths refused to continue with the online fraud work, the probe agency said in a statement.

“These tactics included isolation and restriction of movement, confiscation of personal travel documents and physical abuse, arbitrary fines, threat to kill, threat to rape in case of women, threat to arraign in false case of drugs in local police station etc.,” it said.

According to NIA investigations, the accused targeted Indian youths proficient in computers and English language, and coerced them into working in fraudulent call centres on tourist visa for pecuniary gains.

The victims were being recruited, transported and transferred from India to the Golden Triangle SEZ in Lao PDR via Thailand, the NIA said.

Upon arrival, the victims were trained in the use of Facebook, Telegram, basics of cryptocurrency, and handling of applications created by the scam company, it added.

  “Tightening its noose further around the human trafficking and cyber fraud syndicates operating within and outside the country, the NIA on Friday charge sheeted five accused, including two foreign nationals, in a major case having international linkages,” the statement said.

Two of the accused named in the charge sheet – Jerry Jacob and Godfrey Alvares – are under arrest and the others – Sunny Gonsalves and foreign nationals Niu Niu and Elvis Du – are still on run, it added, without disclosing further details.

  The charge sheet filed before NIA special court, Mumbai, has exposed the involvement of several foreign nationals in the case, in which the agency is continuing with its investigations.

The racket was being operated with complete audacity, with the accused even deleting the data of the victims’ mobile phones to destroy evidence, the NIA said.

The victims faced threats if they approached the concerned Embassy or local authority.   In some cases, the victims were held in scam compounds, confined without food for 3 to 7 days, and tortured if they refused to work, it said.

“They were only released after extraction of extortion payments, ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1,80,000, or intervention by the Embassy of India in Lao PDR on complaints made by the victims,” the NIA said, adding that further investigations, to unearth the complete racket and identify the other accused involved, are being carried out.

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New Delhi:

 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested a wanted accused involved in the trafficking of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas into India through the northeastern borders.

Jalil Miah, a resident of Tripura, has been arrested by the NIA team, an official statement said.

The NIA had in February declared a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to the arrest of Jalil, who was absconding in the case, in addition to nine others.

As per the NIA investigations, a large number of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas are being trafficked to India every month through the porous stretches of the Indo-Bangladesh border.

They are further transported to different parts of the country provided fake documents and forced into labour, according to the statement issued by the probe agency.

“In yet another success in its fight against human traffickers operating across the country, the NIA on Tuesday arrested a key conspirator in a case relating to trafficking of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas through the north-eastern borders,” it said.

Thirty-three persons were arrested earlier in the case, which the NIA had taken over from the Assam Special Task Force (STF) that had originally registered an FIR on March 22, 2023, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Passport Act 1967.

The NIA has so far chargesheeted 24 accused.

Investigations have revealed that Jalil was one of the main conspirators in the human trafficking racket and a close associate of chargesheeted accused Jiban Rudra Pal alias Jibon alias Suman.

He was also closely associated with two other absconders, Juj Miah and Shanto, all hailing from Tripura, the NIA said.

Though Jalil had managed to escape during the initial operation on November 8, 2023, in which 29 accused were arrested, the NIA said, adding electronic devices and other incriminating documents seized from his residence had pointed to his complicity.

Pan India searches conducted by the NIA in November 2023 had led to the seizure of a whole lot of incriminating data, including digital devices, along with foreign currency (Bangladeshi Taka and US Dollar), Aadhaar cards, PAN cards etc.

A subsequent crackdown on December 29 last year had led to the arrest of another four accused in the case, exposing a massive network of human traffickers, the NIA said.

“The manhunt for tracking the other absconders is continuing and investigations are in progress to connect the missing links in the elaborate racket,” it said.

In a related development, the NIA had on Monday carried out a coordinated operation with the state police forces and central intelligence agencies across all the locations in connection with its probe in an international human trafficking and cyber fraud racket.

Five accused were arrested by the state police forces during these searches.

The youths were being forced to work in fake call centres at Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Laos and Cambodia, among other places, as part of the racket, controlled and operated mainly by foreign nationals.

They were also coerced into undertaking illegal activities online such as credit card fraud, investments in cryptocurrency using fake applications, honey trapping, etc. by the accused persons and their other members of the human trafficking syndicate.

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