Who Is Bobby Kataria? Controversial Gurugram Influencer Arrested For Running ‘Human Trafficking’ Racket

Gurugram News: The Gurugram Police Monday arrested controversial Youtuber and social media influencer Bobby Kataria for allegedly operating a human trafficking racket. Officials said Kataria was arrested from his Gurugram office following a complaint against him by two men, accusing the infamous influencer of defrauding them of more than Rs 4 lakh under the guise of getting them an overseas job.

An official said a complaint was filed against Bobby Kataria by one Arun Kumar, a native of Fatehpur, and Manish Tomar– a resident of Dholana, Uttar Pradesh– stating that they came across and advertisement on Kataria’s official Instagram handle and YouTube channel, offering a job opportunity abroad.

The duo contacted Kataria and were asked to meet him at his office at a Gurugram mall. Later, Kumar and Tomar, were asked to deposit Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2.59 lakh to Kataria’s account, respectively in exchange for a job opportunity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

However, both men were instead handed a plane ticket to Laos capital, Vientiane.

“I met Bobby Kataria on February 1 in his office and he gave me assurance of getting a job in the UAE after taking Rs 2,000 as a registration charge. I then transferred Rs 1.5 lakh to his account and got a ticket for Vientiane (capital of Laos)

Similarly, my friend Manish Tomar was also assured of getting a job in Singapore. Kataria charged Rs 2.59 lakh from Tomar and he too got a ticket to Vientiane and boarded the flight on March 28,” Kumar told police.

‘Thrashed, forced to commit cyber crimes’

Kumar said when they landed at Vientiane airport, a man named Abhi, who introduced himself as a friend of Kataria, received them and the duo were later dropped off at a hotel by a Pakistani man.

On the next day, the victims were taken to some anonymous Chinese company where they were allegedly assaulted, their passports snatched, and were forced to commit cyber fraud against US citizens

“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,” Kumar alleged.

Bobby Kataria arrested for human trafficking

Luckily, Kumar and Tomar managed to make their escape on the third day and went straight to the Indian Embassy who sent them back home to India.

After returning, we asked Kataria to return our money, but he refused,” he claimed.

Following the complaint, an FIR was registered against Kataria and others under Sections 323 (causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 420 (cheating), 364 (abduction), 370 (buying and disposing of any person as a slave), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and section 10/24 of the Immigration Act.

Who is Bobby Kataria?

Bobby Kataria is a controversial Youtuber and social media ‘influencer’ who is infamous for posting contentious content and propagating gun and gang culture on his social media handles , especially on Instagram.

In 2022, Bobby Kataria was arrested by the Delhi Police for smoking inside an aeroplane while a Dehradun court issued a non-bailable warrant against him the same year after he had shared a video in which he was seen drinking in public and blocking a road.

Later that same year, an FIR was registered against Kataria by the Gurugram police for thrashing a woman, posting vulgar messages about her on social media and issuing death threats to her.

Kataria was also arrested in Gurugram for misbehaving with police personnel.

(With PTI inputs)