NIA Seizes Properties Linked to Transnational Human Trafficking Syndicate

The National Investigation Agency attached two properties linked to an Indian national in Cambodia, involved in human trafficking. The properties in Maharashtra and Bihar were part of a legal crackdown following the NIA's investigation. Victims were trafficked to Cambodia under false job promises, leading to forced cyber fraud activities.

In a decisive operation to dismantle an international trafficking network, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) announced on Wednesday the seizure of two properties linked to an Indian national based in Cambodia. The assets include a flat in Thane, Maharashtra, and land in Siwan, Bihar, both allegedly purchased through illicit earnings from human trafficking.

The NIA's actions were sanctioned by its special court in Patna, targeting a transnational human trafficking and cyber fraud network. According to NIA investigations, the accused lured Indian youths to Cambodia under the pretense of legitimate employment, only for them to be coerced into criminal cyber activities.

The Patna court identified the properties as proceeds of crime and ordered their attachment on December 10 under section 107 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The court further decreed the auction proceeds of the assets be forfeited. The investigation revealed the syndicate seized victims' passports upon arrival, selling them to fraudulent enterprises where refusal to comply resulted in severe abuse.

(With inputs from agencies.)