Cops say they were on way to Vietnam; accused involved in scam where US, Canadians, Australians were targeted. The trio were on their way to Loas from Mumbai Airport. During the investigation, the police learnt that trio. They were going to take part in a scam, which involved defrauding citizens from the United States,
The arrested accused had travelled to Vietnam twice before, according to the police. Representation Pic/iStock
The Sahar police on Monday arrested a 29-year-old man, Parthkumar Ajay Chauhan, and detained two others at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport over a suspected human trafficking attempt.
According to the cops, the trio were on their way to Vietnam. During the investigation, the police learnt that trio — all of whom are residents of Surat, Gujarat — were going to take part in a scam, which involved defrauding citizens from the United States, Canada and Australia under the pretext of facilitating investment involving cryptocurrency.
According to the police, Chauhan was previously involved in a similar scam in Vietnam and was planning to accompany his two friends to the Southeast Asian country, after offering them a monthly salary of Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000. According to the police, the incident occurred around 12.10 am when the passengers arrived at the airport to board flight VJ-884 from India to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with a connecting flight to Vientiane, Laos.
A police officer said, “Immigration officer Deepchand Singh, who grew suspicious of the group, stopped them and inquired about their reason for travelling to Vietnam. Although they had valid tourist visas, their responses were unclear, so Singh referred them to senior officers. While being questioned, they admitted they were heading to Vietnam for employment purposes on tourist visas.”
In their FIR, the cops mentioned that they learnt that Chauhan had worked allegedly in Vietnam from December 15, 2022, to February 23, 2023, through an agent based in Dubai. His job involved a ‘chat scam’ where citizens from the US, Canada, and Australia would be contacted and convinced to invest in cryptocurrency, only to be defrauded.
DCP Maneesh Kalwaniya of Zone VIII said, “We have arrested Chauhan. We suspect his involvement in a scam where citizens of the US, Canada and Australia are defrauded after being encouraged to invest in cryptocurrency. Our investigation also found that Chauhan had travelled to Vietnam twice before. Although he has no criminal record, he admitted to working in Vietnam earlier in a “chatting job”.
He was taking two youths with him for similar jobs. We didn’t allow the other two passengers to travel and served them a notice asking them to be present for the investigation.”
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