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Slave compounds in Myanmar, neighbouring areas, digital arrest hubs: CBI
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed a charge sheet against 13 suspects in a cyber fraud case
Slave compounds in Myanmar and neighbouring areas have emerged as major hubs for digital arrest frauds in India, and masterminds from Cambodia, China, and Hong Kong controlled the money extorted from the victims, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Thursday as it filed a charge sheet against 13 suspects in a cyber fraud case.
The CBI has been investigating multiple digital arrest frauds originating from Southeast Asia, where Indian nationals were being forced to work in call centres to dupe people. Last month, India brought back nearly 500 citizens who had fled to Thailand from a notorious cyber scam centre in Myanmar. As many as 549 Indians were freed in March and brought back from cybercrime centres along the Myanmar-Thailand border.
The CBI said in a statement on Thursday that it filed the charge sheet against 13 accused as part of its focused, case-by-case crackdown under Operation Chakra-V against organised transnational cybercrimes.
This case was registered suo motu to investigate 10 incidents of digital arrest scams reported across the country amid a steep rise in such offences.
The CBI carried out coordinated searches across Delhi-National Capital Region, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, and West Bengal and recovered incriminating material, including electronic devices, communication logs, financial records, and other digital evidence, in October.
The CBI cited an analysis of over 15,000 IP addresses associated with the scam networks and said it showed extensive cross-border connections, bank accounts used to collect and route funds that masterminds in Cambodia, Hong Kong, and China controlled. “From the vast technical dataset, India-based IP addresses were isolated, enabling targeted searches and identification of domestic operatives,” said the CBI statement.
“...multiple streams of evidence now indicate that slave compounds operating in Myanmar and neighbouring areas have emerged as major hubs for the execution of digital arrest frauds, where trafficked Indian nationals are coerced to run call-centre style cybercrime operations.”
The CBI said the findings align with intelligence gathered during parallel investigations into cyber-slavery and organised digital exploitation networks in Southeast Asia. It added that the investigation generated significant leads on the financial trail, call flow patterns, VoIP routing, remote access tool misuse, and the broader technology infrastructure supporting digital arrest scams. “This systematic, case-by-case dismantling of each operational component remains central to CBI’s evolving cybercrime enforcement strategy.”
The CBI cited evidence and said it filed a charge sheet against 13 accused while the probe continued to identify additional conspirators, facilitators, money mule handlers, and the overseas infrastructure enabling these transnational cyber fraud operations.
“CBI remains committed to identifying, targeting, and dismantling organised digital fraud ecosystems—both within India and across borders—through a combination of technical intelligence, financial tracking, human intelligence, and coordinated enforcement action.”
