NIA attaches properties of accused involved in human trafficking, cyber frauds

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has attached two immovable properties of an accused involved in transnational human trafficking and cyber frauds, officials said on Wednesday.

One flat in Maharashtra’s Thane and a piece of land in Bihar’s Siwan purchased by the wanted accused, Anand Kumar Singh, in his wife’s name using money earned illegally from human trafficking activities have been attached, a statement issued by the NIA said.

Singh, a Cambodia-based Indian national, was involved in trafficking Indian youths to Cambodia for forced criminal cyber fraud, NIA investigations revealed.

The special NIA court in Patna established the two properties to be proceeds of crime and ordered their attachment on December 10. It directed that the money obtained after their auction-sale be forfeited.

According to the NIA’s investigation, the accused was part of a syndicate engaged in luring vulnerable youths from India with false promises of helping them get well-paying legitimate jobs in foreign countries.

Once the victims reached the foreign country, their passports were seized by the syndicate and they were sold to scam companies. Refusal to work for these companies led to mental and physical torture, the agency found during its investigation.

Efforts are in progress to unearth and dismantle the complete transnational nexus involving the syndicate, the statement said.