My sources say that to avoid the crackdown, scam compounds in Phnom Penh have already moved people and equipment to remote provinces overnight. They will not stop.

And as China and ASEAN negotiate this crackdown, I hope
India too has a say in the matter.

So what to make of this? Crackdown is good, but it must be total. A town like Poipet has many compounds, and they also flourish in Phnom Penh, Bavet, Sihanoukville.

Previous crackdowns by China desisted the scammers from targeting the Chinese, and so they moved on to other targets, like Indians.

Even better, on Feb 24, there was a police raid on a scam compound in Poipet, Cambodia. This is one of the ground zeroes of the 'digital arrest' scams targeting Indians.

48 Indians were rescued. More on the way. Pictures released by the Cambodian police. bangkokpost.com/thailand/gen...

The global proceeds of this scam industry stands at $75 billion. In 2024, they stole $1.3 billion from Indians alone.

They did this through a range of scams, including their most terrifying invention – the 'digital arrest' scam. More on that later.

It turns out that Xing had become a victim of one of the world's most notorious human trafficking and cyber crime syndicates, run by Chinese gangsters across Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.

They have trafficked and trapped 220,000 people, according to the UN. This includes thousands of Indians.

Once the actor went inactive, his anxious girlfriend published an SOS on Weibo.

Panic spread among the big names in Chinese cinema and many posted publicly about Xing's disappearance. There was an outcry in China.

In Jan 2025, Chinese actor Wang Xing, popularly known as Xingxing, went missing. He had travelled to Bangkok for what he believed was a movie audition.

But at the airport, Xing was stuffed into a car and driven across the Myanmar border.

A freak high-profile abduction in Thailand last month could have a lasting impact on the cybersecurity of Indians, especially the online scam epidemic sweeping the country in recent years.

Please stick with me.

The top 12 donors of India's ruling party, the BJP, in the year leading up to the 2024 elections.

My piece brings 5 charts that break down the party's political financing in FY24.

Read: scroll.in/article/1079...

Crimson burhans (rhododendrons) have turned the forest red.

Spring in the Himalayas.

Vatakara, Kerala.