Gujarat’s cyber warriors strike again. The state’s Cyber Centre of Excellence apprehended Amreli resident Kaushik Pethani and Surat’s Dhruv Dobariya for orchestrating a human trafficking racket that funneled desperate job seekers into foreign cybercrime operations. The arrests, based on solid intel, expose a chilling web of deception targeting India’s unemployed youth.
Posing as legitimate recruiters on platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, the pair advertised high-paying jobs abroad. Selected candidates faced mock interviews, soft skills workshops, and promises of bright futures. In reality, they were dispatched to scam dens in Southeast Asia—Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos—where forced labor in crypto frauds and investment swindles awaited.
Pethani, alias ‘Ali Baba,’ ran the show, collecting fees up to 1.5 lakhs per head and managing travel logistics. Dobariya supported by sending at least five victims abroad. The network’s brutality knew no bounds: seized documents, locked compounds, and savage beatings for resisters, trapping victims far from home.
This operation wasn’t limited to India; it ensnared people from Bangladesh and Pakistan too. Probes uncovered links to new fraud setups in UAE, Thailand, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Georgia. Superintendent Vivek Bheda reaffirmed the centre’s resolve: ‘We’re dismantling these cyber slavery chains one link at a time.’
As the probe deepens, police are tracing additional accomplices and victim numbers. This case underscores the perils of social media job lures— a wake-up call for job hunters to verify sources amid rising global cyber threats.