In a bizarre incident, a man from Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat was held captive as a ‘cyber slave’ by fraudsters. As per the police, the man has been rescued and repatriated to India.
The victim, identified as Vikas Rana, a resident of Ghenaura Silver Nagar village, had gone to Cambodia in search of a job. However, he was fraudulently confined and was forced to take part in cyber-fraud operations.
Rana’s wife, Dolly, filed a complaint, saying that her husband was taken against his will and made to work for the syndicate, it said.
Following her complaint, the Additional Director General of Police (Meerut Zone) and the Deputy Inspector General (Meerut Range) instructed the Baghpat cyber cell to investigate the matter.
The initial investigation revealed
that Rana was held by a group that lures young people abroad with false job offers and forces them into cyber-fraud activities.
In response, Baghpat police maintained constant communication with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi, and the Indian Embassy in Cambodia.
The statement said that through continuous coordination, Cambodian authorities helped rescue Rana from the alleged “slavery centre”.
Cyber slavery refers to the trafficking of individuals, often lured abroad with fake job offers, and compelling them to run online fraud operations. This has emerged as an organised crime network in countries like Cambodia.
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