Bobby Kataria was arrested by Gurugram Police for allegedly duping people on the pretext of sending them abroad. Kataria had allegedly held over 150 Indian youths captive, seizing their passports.
Gurugram Police on Monday arrested social media influencer Bobby Kataria for allegedly running an international human trafficking network, officials told India Today TV. Kataria was arrested following a joint raid conducted by Gurugram Police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at his residence in Gurugram’s Sector-109.
During the raids, officials recovered several suspicious documents and a huge stash of cash, officials said.
Kataria was arrested following an FIR filed against him by the Gurugram Police which alleged that he and other human traffickers had held over 150 Indians captive, seizing their passports and other documents, and forced them into cyber fraud operations for a Chinese company.
The FIR also stated that the victims were also subjected to severe mistreatment.
Arun Kumar from Gopalganj, Uttar Pradesh, and Manish Tomar from Dhaulapur, Hapur, filed a complaint with Gurugram Police, alleging that Bobby Kataria advertised overseas job opportunities on his Instagram page.
Influenced by the advertisement, they contacted Kataria’s team and were called to his office in Sector 109, Gurugram, where they were charged a registration fee of Rs 2,000 and promised jobs in the UAE. In pursuit of their dreams, they ended up paying Rs 3.5 lakh in three installments into Kataria’s accounts.
The victims reported that they were sent to Vientiane (Laos) on tickets provided by Kataria. Upon arrival, they were met by an associate of Kataria who identified himself as Pakistani and took them to a hotel in Vientiane.
The next day, they met another individual named Abhi, who gave them train tickets to Navatuai. On reaching Navatuai, they encountered Ankit Shaukeen and Nitish Sharma, who took them to a Chinese company where their passports were confiscated, and they were held captive and assaulted.
The complainants said they were forced into illegal American cyber fraud activities. Desperate and distressed, they eventually escaped and reached the Indian embassy, where they exposed Bobby Kataria and his network.
The police and the NIA are probing the case further to nab other accused involved in the human trafficking syndicate.