Sold to a Cambodian Scam Centre for $5,000: Two Arrested in Paltan in Case Filed After Victims Returned Home
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested two suspected members of a human-trafficking ring in a case filed by two young Bangladeshis who were lured to Cambodia with promises of good jobs and sold to a scam centre. The two arrested men are Md Shaon Molla, 23, and Md Sakib Sarkar, 26.
The CID said a team arrested them during a raid in the Paltan area of the capital at about 1pm on Tuesday, 27 October. Those involved were identified from information gathered during the investigation of the case and from intelligence, after which the two FIR-named accused were detained.
According to the allegations, the two young men went to Cambodia after being lured by promises of good jobs and a prosperous life abroad. About six lakh taka was taken from each of their families to send them abroad. The families had hoped the young men would improve their financial situation by working overseas.
Immediately after reaching Cambodia, the two men's passports were seized. They were then sold to a scam centre for five thousand US dollars, according to the allegations.
At the scam centre they were forced into online fraud work. The allegations state that if they refused to work or made even a small mistake, they faced physical and mental torture, and that they had no opportunity to leave on their own or return home safely.
At one stage the two men managed to contact their families. A ransom of five thousand US dollars was then demanded for their release from the scam centre. Hoping to free their sons, the family members arranged that money.
CID Special Superintendent of Police (Media) Md Chhufi Ullah said their suffering did not end after the release. The traffickers took them under their control again and also extracted from the families the money for the plane tickets to return home. The families fell into extreme financial hardship arranging the cost of sending them abroad, the ransom and the tickets.
The two young men were later forced to stay for about two months at a local hotel in Cambodia. At one stage they contacted the BRAC Migration Centre online. With the necessary help, arrangements were made for their return, and they came back to Bangladesh on 3 September.
A case over the incident was filed at Paltan police station on 26 October. It was filed under sections 6, 7, 8, 9 and 22 of the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Prevention and Suppression Act, 2026.
Further legal proceedings against the two arrested men are under way. The CID said the investigation of the case is continuing.
