Mumbai Police, currently investigating a cyber slavery case involving five individuals trafficked to Laos under the pretext of job offers in Thailand, arrested the prime accused on Wednesday, officials said, reported news agency PTI.

The accused, identified as Salman Munir Shaikh, was apprehended by the South Region Cyber Police Station team from Nayanagar in Mira Road, an official said, reported PTI.

Shaikh had been operating as an agent, allegedly sending people to Laos by offering them lucrative call centre jobs. According to officials, he promised data entry positions at a Thailand-based company with a monthly salary of Rs 70,000 to five individuals in August 2024, reported PTI.

A complainant and his friend, who expressed interest in the offer, paid Rs 30,000 each to Shaikh for visa processing and airfare. Initially, Shaikh sent them to Thailand, from where they were transported to Laos in a private vehicle and handed over to a Chinese national, reported PTI.

Once in Laos, the victims were forced to work in a call centre involved in duping individuals and extorting money through social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, the official added, reported PTI.

During their captivity, the accused confiscated the victims` passports and restricted their movement, preventing them from leaving the premises. The traffickers also demanded 20,000 Chinese Yuan from each victim to allow them to return home.

Three held for robbery of over Rs 2 crore cash in Mumbai

In another case, the Mumbai police have arrested three persons in connection with the robbery of more than Rs 2 crore cash belonging to a private finance company at Girgaon in south Mumbai, officials said on Tuesday, reported PTI.

The police first arrested Abdul Rahim Shaikh (40), a resident of Mumbra in Thane. He was held by the Mumbai crime branch team from Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Monday, an official said, reported PTI.

His interrogation led to the arrest of two more accused in the case, he said.

After him, the police arrested Baijnath Yadav from Mumbai with a local court sending him in police custody till September 22.

Another accused, Munish Paul, was held from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh and Rs 35 lakh were recovered from him and he is being brought to Mumbai, the official said, reported PTI.

As per the complaint, the incident occurred on September 11, at Girgaon under the V P Road police station limits. Unidentified robbers threatened a driver of the vehicle, which was carrying cash of the private finance company, using a gun and fled with the bag containing cash, he said, reported PTI.

The complainant had initially told the police that Rs 50 lakh were robbed, he said.

During the probe, police examined the CCTV footage of the area and found that Yadav, the driver of the vehicle, was misleading the police. Accordingly, the police officials obtained his call detail records (CDR) and found that he was in contact with other accused persons of the case.

(With inputs from PTI)

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