Sat Dec 07 19:16:32 UTC 2024: ## Key Suspect Arrested in India’s Cyber Slavery Ring
**Chennai, December 8, 2024** – A key suspect in a large-scale cyber slavery operation has been arrested by the Crime Branch CID (CB-CID) Police in India. Shankar Sarkar, a resident of West Bengal, was apprehended at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport while attempting to flee to Laos.
Sarkar is alleged to be a member of a gang that lures young Indian job seekers with promises of legitimate employment abroad, then forces them into cyber scams in Southeast Asia, specifically Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Victims are often brought in on tourist visas and held against their will in “scam compounds,” where they are compelled to conduct online fraud, such as manipulating individuals into investing in fake Bitcoin applications and online games. Refusal to cooperate results in physical abuse.
Sarkar’s involvement began in 2021 when he paid an illegal recruitment agency, run by Abdul Kadher and associates, for a cooking job in Serbia. Instead, he was sent to Laos to work for Chinese companies, where he spent two years. He then acted as a recruiter himself, helping to send at least nine individuals from Tamil Nadu to Laos under false pretenses.
The arrest follows the previous apprehension of 12 other illegal agents and the registration of 16 cases related to cyber slavery, resulting in the arrest of 37 individuals, including six Malaysian nationals. Sarkar’s arrest is a significant development in the ongoing crackdown on these criminal networks. He has been remanded to judicial custody in Tamil Nadu.
First Piper 