Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Nov 18: A racket involved with bringing poor youngsters from developing countries like Bangladesh by promising them lucrative employment in advanced countries like England, USA and Canada stands exposed. State criminal investigation department (CID) has found that these young men were confined to stand alone houses in the city outskirts and tortured till they arranged payment of huge amounts of money. It has transpired that the racket also was involved with human trafficking to several cities in the country.
The racket operated by offering employment through its website. In a joint operation conducted by CID and city police, 16 persons including the brain behind this racket were arrested. CID was investigating three cases relating to which these arrests were made. One of them pertain to the murder of an unidentified person at Ramanagara last year. The police unravelled the misdeeds of the gang after arresting four persons who were staying in a luxury hotel here.
The modus operandi of the racket was to lodge the persons who fall to their lure in houses here, rob them of their valuables, gold, cash etc and then torture them. The youngsters were forced to make calls to their parents to inform them that they have got good employment, and asking them to deposit money into their accounts to meet urgent needs. The CID found that the gang succeeded in getting between five and 12 lac rupees on an average from each of these young men in this way. Those who resisted were tortured and threatened at gunpoint.
Four important persons who managed the operations of the gang, identified as Rehman and Rahul Mehra from Mumbai and Ashfaque from the city were produced in Ramanagara court. Rehman is said to be the main operative of this racket. The racket lured people through their website, www.abroadjobs.com. The CID officials have secured their custody for 20 days during which period they plan to get to the root of the operations and other people involved with this racket. On the basis of information provided by arrested accused, eight youngsters from Bangladesh who had been kept in house arrest were rescued, and eight others who were guarding them were taken into custody. Six more were taken into custody by Yalahanka police relating to a case which was registered with them.
Once they collected details of the job aspirants through the websites, the gang members used to call the applicants over phone through some agents, asked them to reach here in the guise of putting through processes and paperwork, and then confined them to houses.