On Monday, the Gurugram Police arrested Bobby Kataria, a popular social media influencer, in connection with an global human trafficking syndicate. Kataria’s house at Sector 109 in Gururgam was raided by the Gurugram Police alongside the National Investigation Agency (NIA) leading to his arrest. Authorities reportedly recovered numerous suspicious documents and a significant amount of cash during the operation.
The Gurugram Police accused Kataria of holding more than 150 Indian youth; taking away their passports and identity cards; and making them work for a Chinese company in the field of cyber fraud with his partners. An FIR was lodged against him which made him be apprehended. In addition, all the victims underwent brutal treatment while being confined in a place that lacked humanity.
An FIR was registered on Wednesday by the Gurugram Police after Arun Kumar from Gopalganj, Uttar Pradesh, and Manish Tomar from Dhaulapur, Hapur, lodged a complaint about some job functions advertised on a tourist site that he was running. The two complainants claimed that they have been cheated by Kataria because he advertised vacancies for foreign jobs, which turned out to be fake, further noted the police. Enticed by the prospect of better employment, they contacted Kataria’s team and were summoned to his office in Sector 109, Gurugram. There, they were charged a registration fee of Rs 2,000 and promised jobs in the UAE. Trusting Kataria’s assurances, they subsequently paid a total of Rs 3.5 lakh in three installments into his accounts.
According to the complainants, after making the payments, they were sent to Vientiane, Laos, on tickets provided by Kataria. Upon their arrival, they were met by an associate of Kataria who identified himself as Pakistani and escorted them to a hotel. The following day, they were introduced to another individual named Abhi, who handed them train tickets to Navatuai. Upon reaching Navatuai, they encountered two more associates, Ankit Shaukeen and Nitish Sharma, who transported them to a Chinese company. There, their passports were confiscated, and they were held captive and physically assaulted.
The victims reported that they were forced into participating in illegal American cyber fraud activities. After enduring considerable hardship, they managed to escape and sought refuge at the Indian embassy in Laos, where they exposed Kataria’s human trafficking network.
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The police and NIA are now intensively investigating the case to apprehend other individuals involved in this human trafficking syndicate. This arrest is not Kataria’s first brush with the law. Earlier he was caught trying to force a woman into having sex with him using threats posted over internet channels. In Dehradun, August 2022; there was a lawsuit against him when footages emerged on social media about him consuming alcoholic drinks right across the street. Further, as of 2022 he got arrested by police officers for making video recordings while puffing cigarette stick within Spice Jet plane.
The arrest of Kataria emphasizes the negative impacts of social media power pocketed under the umbrella of a lavish life. The efforts of the investigation are geared at revealing how deep the network goes and ensuring that the victims get justice served for being lured into such evil plans.
