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.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

In a significant breakthrough, one of the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) most wanted terrorists and LeT commander was killed during an encounter with security forces on Wednesday night in Kashmir’s Kulgam district.

Three terrorists have been killed in the gunfight which broke out in the Redwani Payeen area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam after security forces launched a search operation late on Monday night.

Basit Ahmed Dar, a resident of Redwani Payeen, was also the commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) offshoot group, The Resistant Front (TRF) and was involved in the killings of civilians and security personnel. Apart from Dar, two LeT terrorists identified as Momin Gulzar and Fahim Ahmed Baba were also killed in the operation.

“It’s a big achievement for us as they were involved in 18 killings. These killings include those of security personnel, civilians and minorities,” Inspector General of Police Kashmir V K Birdi told NDTV.

The security forces have intensified search operations in the Union territory days after an Indian Air Force officer was killed and four others injured when their convoy was targetted in Poonch district on May 4. 

CCTV footage photographs of three terrorists believed to be involved in the attack were released on Wednesday.

The three have been identified as Illiyas, a former Pakistan Army commando, a Pakistani terrorist called Hadoon (or Hadun), and Abu Hamza, the code-name of commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
 

New Delhi:

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday attached six immovable properties of a top terrorist of the banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed in Jammu and Kashmir.

The attached land parcels of arrested terrorist Asif Ahmed Malik are located in Mirpora and Pulwama, the NIA said in a statement. The properties were attached under Section 33 (1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, on the orders of the NIA Special Court, Jammu.

Asif Ahmed Malik was arrested on January 31, 2020, in a case related to transportation of terrorists, infiltration into Kashmir from across the border, and seizure of arms and explosives from terror operatives of JeM.

The NIA charge-sheeted him on July 27, 2020, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Explosive Substances Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933. Asif Ahmed Malik is currently undergoing trial.

NIA investigations have exposed a conspiracy by the accused to transport the infiltrated terrorists to the Kashmir Valley and provide them safe shelter in preparation for attacks on the security forces/apparatus as part of the terror conspiracy against India, the statement from the probe agency said.

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) was formed by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000 and is headquartered at Bahawalpur in Pakistan, the NIA said.

Since its foundation, JeM has carried out several terrorist attacks in India, including in Jammu and Kashmir. JeM was listed as a “Designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation” by the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSC) 1267, and Maulana Masood Azhar was designated a “Global Terrorist” by the UNSC in 2019.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)