The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted raids at 22 locations across six states as part of a crackdown on human trafficking by an organised syndicate luring Indian youths to foreign countries on the pretext of jobs and forcing them to work in fake call centres engaged in cyber fraud.

The NIA said that the premises of 17 suspects were searched in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra and Punjab. The suspects have been identified as sub-agents, associates and relatives of Cambodia-based Indian agents involved in trafficking Indian youths to that country. The suspects were involved in trafficking job-seeking youths to foreign nations, managing their financial transactions and other logistics, according to NIA investigations.

The searches led to the seizure of digital devices, including mobile phones, hard drives, memory cards, laptops, property and financial documents and ₹34 lakh in cash.

NIA investigations so far have revealed that the youths were being lured on the pretext of lucrative jobs and were then forced into cyber slavery. The trafficked youths were being transferred to scam companies after their passports were seized.

In statements given to the NIA, the victims have alleged mental and physical torture, including electric shock, by managers of the scam companies in case of refusal to commit the cyber fraud.

In October, the agency had filed a chargesheet against members of a human trafficking gang that was sending Indians to Laos to work in cybercrime sweatshops run by Chinese scammers targetting European and American citizens.