Princeton police on the look out for four Telugus accused of labour trafficking in Texas

Police say they found 15 women who were allegedly forced to work for several shell companies owned by Katkoori and his wife, Dwaraka Gunda

Hyderabad: Princeton police in the State of Texas is on the look out for f our persons of Telugu origin in connection with a labour trafficking operation. The police operation began in March this year, leading to arrest warrants being issued on Monday.

Princeton police said officers were dispatched to a home on the 1000 block of Ginsburg Lane of Collin County on March 13 after a person reported a welfare concern and a “suspicious circumstance.”

---

During the investigation into the report, Princeton police obtained a search warrant for the residence of an NRI person identified as Santhosh Katkoori. Inside the home, the police found 15 women who said they were forced to work for several shell companies owned by Katkoori and his wife, Dwaraka Gunda.

Investigators said the victims, which included both women and men, were working as programmers and that during the search of the residence, several laptops, phones, printers, and fraudulent documents were seized.

Princeton police said they later learned multiple locations in the cities of Princeton, Melissa, and McKinney were involved in the forced labour operation and that they later seized more laptops, phones, and documents from other locations.

The police statement did not include the addresses of those other locations or details about the nature of the programming work done for the couple’s alleged shell companies.

Princeton police said on Monday that after investigators conducted an analysis of all of the electronics seized and the nature of the operation was confirmed, arrest warrants were issued for four people now charged with trafficking of persons, a second-degree felony.

Police identified the suspects as 31-year-old Santhosh Katkoori of Melissa; 31-year-old Dwaraka Gunda of Melissa; 24-year-old Chandan Dasireddy of Melissa; and 37-year-old Anil Male of Prosper. It’s unclear if any of the four charged have obtained attorneys to speak on their behalf, a Princeton Police statement said.

Police said further charges of multiple parties were still pending as investigation was continuing. Anyone with information about the trafficking operation or who was a victim of trafficking was asked to call the Princeton Police Department.