PANAJI: The swift issuance of a Lookout Circular (LOC) against Kazakhstan national Talaniti Nulaxi was crucial in preventing his escape and exposing an international cyber slavery syndicate, Director General of Police Alok Kumar said at a press conference today.
Nulaxi, of Chinese origin, was among three individuals arrested for luring job seekers with fraudulent overseas employment offers and forcing them into cyber scam operations abroad. The syndicate was also planning to recruit women for work-from-home scams linked to honeytraps and extortion schemes.
“Our immediate action in issuing the LOC ensured that Nulaxi could not flee the country. Had it been delayed, tracking him down and bringing him back would have been extremely difficult,” Kumar stated. The case gained momentum after a young Goan victim was rescued from an illegal cyber scam centre in Myanmar. Based on his testimony, the Goa Police launched an investigation that led to the arrest of a suspect in Bengaluru, eventually unearthing the wider network operating out of Mumbai and Delhi.
Superintendent of Police Cyber Crime Rahul Gupta revealed that Nulaxi was actively searching for office space in India to set up similar cyber slavery call centres. “He holds residency cards for Dubai, China, and Kazakhstan and had also sought visas for Japan and South Korea from an illegal agency. He had begun discussions to acquire real estate to establish a base for cyber fraud activities in India,” Gupta added.
Investigators found that the syndicate operated through an unregistered Mumbai-based agency that was illegally recruiting Indians without approval from the Ministry of External Affairs. “They offered jobs in Thailand and Cambodia with salaries between Rs 60,000 and Rs 70,000 per month. Once recruited, victims’ passports were confiscated, and they were forced to work in cyber slavery call centres,” Kumar explained.
Apart from Nulaxi, police arrested Adithya Ravichandran (22) from Tamil Nadu and Rupnarayan Gupta (36) from Maharashtra. The latter, an illegal recruitment agent, is believed to have trafficked over a hundred individuals to countries like Thailand and Cambodia. “He conducted online interviews with job seekers, sometimes involving nationals from Thailand or the Philippines, to assess their language skills before sending them abroad,” Gupta said.
The investigation further uncovered plans by the syndicate to expand operations beyond Southeast Asia. “They were looking to establish similar cyber fraud centres in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh,” Kumar revealed. The group was also found to be involved in renting bank accounts and SIM cards for illicit financial transactions, a tactic commonly used in cyber fraud.
