Social media influencer Balwant Kataria, known as Bobby Kataria, stirred controversy when he was arrested for suspected involvement in human trafficking and fraud. Following his arrest on Monday, a city court deemed it necessary to place him under three-day police remand, as confirmed by law enforcement officials on Tuesday. Alongside his detention, authorities seized Rs 20 lakh in cash, several documents, and four mobile phones from his possession.
"Accused Bobby Kataria has been taken on police remand for three days. All aspects of the investigation are being looked into by the police," Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) crime Varun Dahiya said.
Police stated that Kataria has been embroiled in a significant human trafficking network since the previous year, potentially having ties to an international syndicate. Initial inquiries suggest that Kataria, in collaboration with a female associate, duped numerous unemployed individuals.
Gurugram police received complaints from two men, Arun Kumar from Fatehpur and Manish Tomar from Dholana, Uttar Pradesh, alleging that Kataria had deceived them of over ₹4 lakh under the pretext of facilitating overseas employment. The complaint stated that they encountered an advertisement on Instagram promising job opportunities abroad.
The ad was posted from the official Instagram ID and YouTube channel of Kataria. Upon contacting the influencer, they were asked to meet him in his office at a Gurugram mall.
"I met Bobby Kataria on February 1 in his office and he gave me assurance of getting a job in the UAE after taking ₹ 2,000 as a registration charge. I then transferred ₹ 1.5 lakh to his account and got a ticket for Vientiane (capital of Laos)," Kumar had told the police.
"Similarly, my friend Manish Tomar was also assured of getting a job in Singapore. Kataria charged ₹ 2.59 lakh from Tomar and he too got a ticket to Vientiane and boarded the flight on March 28," Kumar had said.
"The next day, we were taken to an anonymous Chinese company, where we were thrashed and our passports were taken away. We were forced to commit cyber fraud targeting US citizens. Around 150 Indians, including women, had been brought there through human trafficking and were being held hostage.
"On the third day, we managed to escape and approached the Indian Embassy. After returning, we asked Kataria to return our money, but he refused," the complainant had said.
After the complaint was lodged, an FIR was filed against Kataria and accomplices under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 323 (causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 420 (cheating), 364 (abduction), 370 (buying and disposing of any person as a slave), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), along with sections 10/24 of the Immigration Act.
Kataria was apprehended from his office situated in Conscient-One mall, sector 109. Concurrently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches across multiple locations in six states/UTs in collaboration with local law enforcement. This operation targeted a case involving human trafficking intertwined with coerced cyber crimes, resulting in the apprehension of five individuals. Among those detained were Manish Hingu from Vadodara, Pahlad Singh from Gopalganj, Nabialam Rai from southwest Delhi, and Sartaj Singh from Chandigarh. Additionally, acting on intelligence provided by the NIA, Gurugram police arrested Kataria.
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