India arrests 4 for trafficking people to Russia for combat purposes

NEW DELHI

India's premier investigating and prosecuting agency on Wednesday announced the arrest of four people on charges of trafficking Indian nationals for combat roles in the Russian Army.

The Central Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that it arrested two people on Tuesday, both of whom are from southern Kerala state, and two more on April 24 on charges of human trafficking.

The two of them "were the main recruiters of Indian nationals belonging to Kerala and Tamil Nadu for the Russian Army," it said.

The investigating agency said one of the accused, Nijil Jobi Bensam, was a translator working on a contract basis in Russia and was a key member of a network that facilitated the recruitment of Indian nationals into the Russian Army.

“These traffickers have been operating as an organized network and were luring Indian nationals through social media channels…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,” the agency said on Wednesday.

It has been determined that some of the victims were “grievously injured in the war zone," the statement said.

“A case of human trafficking was registered against private Visa Consultancy Firms and agents who were involved in trafficking of Indian Nationals to Russia under the guise of better employment and high-paying jobs,” it said.

It added: “The human trafficking network of these agents is spread over several States across the country and beyond.”

Investigations are ongoing against other accused members of this international network of human traffickers, it said.

In March, the agency announced that it had busted a major human trafficking network operating throughout the country, targeting gullible youths with the promise of lucrative jobs overseas.

Later, the Indian Foreign Ministry issued a statement stating that it is actively pursuing the matter with the Russian government at various levels.

It said, “We are committed to bringing back all the people who so far have gotten in touch with us and want to be released and repatriated and returned back home. Ten such individuals have come back to India.

“We have been assured by the Russian side that the other Indians who are there, they'll also be released and they'll return home.”