The Kerala police have arrested three individuals in connection with trafficking young graduates from the state after luring them abroad with false promises of employment and later selling them in Cambodia. The arrested men —Anurag, Athiradh, and Naseeruddin Sha—are accused of recruiting unsuspecting job seekers who were then forced to work as cybercriminals involved in online scams. Anurag and Athiradh are residents of Kozhikode, while Sha hails from Pattambi in Palakkad district.
The arrests were made as the accused returned to Kerala from Cambodia, with Anurag and Naseeruddin Sha detained on December 6 and Athiradh on December 8. The Perambra police apprehended Anurag and Athiradh following a complaint from Babu, the father of Abin Babu, a victim recently rescued from Cambodia. Similarly, Naseeruddin Sha was arrested based on a complaint by Ajmal MT, another trafficking victim who is also Sha’s cousin.
The Perambra police have booked Anurag, Athiradh, and one other individual under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including: Section 127(4) (Wrongful confinement), Section 142 (Kidnapping or abduction), Section 140(3): (Kidnap with intention of illegal detention), Section 3(5) (Criminal conspiracy). Although Athiradh’s name was not explicitly mentioned in the First Information Report (FIR), Shameer P, the investigation officer, confirmed to TNM that he was one of the detained accused.
In a parallel investigation, the Ponnani police have also booked Naseeruddin Sha and Anurag under additional sections of the BNS, including Section 143(1) (Trafficking of persons), Section 115(2) (Voluntarily causing hurt), Section 318(4) (Cheating and dishonesty), Section 316(2) (Criminal breach of trust), Section 118(2) (Causing grievous hurt with dangerous weapons or methods) and Section 3(5) (Criminal conspiracy involving multiple individuals).
They also added one person identified as Michele, a Cambodian agent allegedly involved in the scandal, to the list of accused based on the testimony of one of the victims.
The case
Seven men from Kerala—Ajmal MT, Semil Dev, Arun SA, Abhinav Suresh, Abhinanth CP, Roshan, and Aswanth Babu—were trafficked to Cambodia. The victims were initially taken to Bangkok with false job offers, then transported to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, and later to Krong Poi Pet, an eight-hour drive from Phnom Penh.
The victims reported that they had no prior knowledge of the job or the company they were being recruited for. Upon arrival, they learned they were expected to work as scammers, posing as customer care executives for the State Bank of India (SBI) to defraud people.
The accused reportedly collected $540 (approximately Rs. 45,000) from each victim as a fee for securing jobs that promised monthly salaries of up to Rs. 1 lakh. Those who refused to participate in the scams were allegedly subjected to physical torture. After enduring days of abuse, they managed to escape.
TNM conducted interviews with the seven men and published a detailed report outlining how these young graduates were deceived, who is behind these scam centers, and the information the victims had about Indian operations.