The Indian Express ·
Crime, law and justice
Lured for Job, forced to scam Americans: Jharkhand High Court denies bail to agent
In 2025, the informant travelled to Bangkok after receiving flight tickets and other documents through Telegram. He was then taken to Myanmar by road, where he allegedly came into contact with several persons involved in cybercrime.
The Jharkhand High Court has denied bail to a Mumbai travel agent for his alleged involvement in an international human trafficking and cyber fraud racket. He is accused of conspiring in job scams that lured unsuspecting Indian youth to Thailand and Myanmar, where they were forced into cybercrime and honey-trapping targeting US citizens.
A bench of Justices Rongon Mukhopadhyay and Arun Kumar Rai was dealing with a plea of a man who was challenging his bail rejection from a special court in a case related to cybercrime.
“The manner in which the victims were trapped and sent to Thailand and Myanmar for the purposes of committing cyber fraud/honey trapping, and the US citizens were the main target. The WhatsApp chats, innumerable in number, point to the deep-rooted involvement of the appellant in such nefarious activities,” the court said.
The court observed that the numerous WhatsApp chats collected during the investigation pointed to the appellant’s “deep-rooted involvement” in the alleged activities.
Youth allegedly trafficked into cybercrime
The case arose from a cybercrime investigation in which the informant, a Class 12 pass youth from a financially weak family, was allegedly lured by a person named Akhil through Telegram with a promise of a job in Bangkok paying Rs 70,000 per month.
Justices Rongon Mukhopadhyay and Arun Kumar Rai heard the case on September 14.
On October 10, 2025, the informant travelled to Bangkok after receiving flight tickets and other documents through Telegram. He was subsequently taken by an associate of Akhil by road from Thailand to Myanmar, where he allegedly came into contact with several persons involved in cybercrime.
Following a raid by the Myanmar Army on October 18, 2025, the informant was detained and was later brought back to India with the assistance of the Indian Embassy. Based on his allegations, an FIR was registered against Daud Ahmad and others.
Ahmad, who was not named in the FIR, was later implicated based on the confessional statement of a co-accused. He claimed to be a Mumbai-based travel agent who had merely booked an air ticket for a passenger and denied involvement in the cybercrime. His bail plea was rejected by the special court, following which he approached the high court.
“Money transactions emerge during investigation”
The court noted that the case diary revealed the manner in which victims were allegedly trapped and sent to Thailand and Myanmar for the purpose of cyber fraud and honey trapping, with US citizens being the main targets.
“The money transactions between the appellant and Sartaj Alam have also come to the fore in the course of the investigation, as recorded at paragraph 91 of the case diary,” the court noted.
Although the informant had been declared hostile by the prosecution, the court noted that other victims were yet to be examined.
Considering the overall circumstances and the fact that the bail application of a co-accused had also been rejected, the court found no reason to interfere with the special court’s order rejecting the appellant’s bail and dismissed his appeal.