300 trafficked Indians revolt in Cambodia, several arrested: Andhra police

In the wake of a human trafficking racket being busted in Visakhapatnam recently, the Andhra Pradesh police on Tuesday said around 300 Indians 'revolted' against their handlers in Cambodia on May 20, leading to most of them being arrested in the foreign country.

As many as 150 youths from the port city and its vicinity have been stuck in Cambodia for a year already, where they are being coerced to carry out cyber crime and ponzi scams by Chinese handlers, the police said.

Visakhapatnam police commissioner A Ravi Shankar noted that these trafficked Indians caused large scale riots in Jinbei and Compound, Sihanoukvile in Cambodia, which is allegedly a hub for cyber crime.

"Many people called up Visakha city police Whatsapp numbers and sent videos. Yesterday (Monday), around 300 Indians 'revolted' on a large scale against their handlers in Cambodia," said Shankar in a release.

On May 18, the Vizag police arrested Chukka Rajesh, S Kondala Rao and M Jnaneshwar Rao on human trafficking charges for luring youth from India with data entry jobs in Singapore but would actually traffic them to Cambodia for carrying out cyber crime.

Once in Cambodia, the youth would be held captive, tortured and compelled by Chinese handlers to execute scams such as task game fraud, stock market fraud and others, police said.

In an effort to extend assistance, the police contacted the ministry of external affairs and related departments to repatriate the youth safely as most of them have been lodged in a jail after Monday's 'revolt'.

According to Visakhapatnam joint commissioner of police Fakkeerappa Kaginelli, nearly 5,000 Indians were trafficked to Cambodia from across the country through various agents.

Kaginelli told PTI that with the three arrested persons, 150 youths have been traced to Cambodia.