The Bangladesh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested two members of a human trafficking ring over allegations of luring two individuals to Cambodia with promises of employment and subsequently selling them to a scam centre.

In a statement, the CID said the victims had their passports confiscated and were sold for $5,000 upon arrival in Cambodia.

They were then held captive and subjected to torture to extort further ransom payments.

Police named the detained suspects as are Shawon Molla and Sakib Sarkar, who were apprehended in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Citing the complaints of the two victims, the CID said the men were lured to Cambodia by the trafficking ring with the promise of lucrative jobs.

The gang collected approximately $4,880 from each of their families.

In the scam centre, the victims were forced to engage in fraudulent online activities. If they refused to work or made mistakes, they were subjected to physical and mental abuse, the CID said.

At one point, the traffickers demanded an additional $5,000 for their release, a sum that the victims’ families paid.

However, even after their release, the traffickers extorted further funds to cover the cost of their return tickets to Bangladesh.

The two victims were forced to stay in a hotel in Cambodia for nearly two months. Eventually, they contacted the BRAC Migration Centre, which facilitated their return to Bangladesh in early September, when they filed a case leading to the arrests.