CBI busts human trafficking network taking Indians to Russia-Ukraine war zone

New Delhi: Amid several Indians getting killed after being forced to fight for Russia in the war against Ukraine, the CBI on Thursday cracked human trafficking networks sending youth to the conflict zone promising them lucrative jobs.

After registering a case against visa consultancy firms and agents, searches were conducted at more than 10 locations in seven cities - Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai, Ambala, Chandigarh, Madurai and Chennai.

The agents and visa firms were accused of hiring and sending youths to the Russia-Ukraine war zone in the guise of lucrative jobs, CBI officials said. Around 35 instances of victims being sent abroad have been established.

So far, officials said, over Rs 50 lakh, documents and electronic records like laptops, mobiles and desktops were seized while some suspects have been detained for questioning.

The case has been registered on Wednesday against Delhi-based 24x7 RAS Overseas Foundation and its Director Suyash Mukut, Mumbai-based OSD Bros Travels & Visa Services Pvt Ltd and its Director Rakesh Pandey, Chandigarh-based Adventure Visa Services Pvt Ltd and its Director Manjeet Singh and Dubai-based Baba Vlogs Overseas Recruitment Solutions Pvt Ltd and its Director Faisal Abdul Mutalib Khan.

According to the CBI, the suspected traffickers have been operating as an organised network and were luring Indians through social media channels like Youtube as well as through their local contacts and agents for highly paid jobs in Russia.

"The trafficked Indian nationals were trained in combat roles and deployed at front bases in the Russia-Ukraine war zone against their wishes, thus putting their lives in grave danger. It has been ascertained that some of the victims also got grievously injured in the war zone," a CBI statement said.

An appeal is made to the general public not to fall prey to such false promises of jobs by the dubious recruitment agencies and agents, it added.