Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The city police on Monday evening busted a fake call centre that was duping foreign nationals. The employees working at the centre were reportedly paid salaries ranging from ₹15,000 to ₹50,000, along with incentives of up to ₹5 lakh. They were also provided with lavish flats in the Mondha Naka area and four-wheeler vehicles for conveyance. The call centre is suspected of defrauding victims of around ₹50 lakh every day.
Acting on a tip-off, three Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) and around 170 officers and personnel conducted a raid on the call centre. In recent months, several incidents of cyber fraud targeting local residents have come to light. The Cyber Crime Department has on several occasions managed to freeze fraudsters’ bank accounts and help victims recover their money. However, Monday’s operation was described as the most significant action taken in the city so far.
During the raid, police uncovered a racket that primarily targeted U.S. nationals. One of the directors hails from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, while another is from Gujarat. Cases have been registered against 118 employees who directly contacted the victims.
The operation was led by DCPs Prashant Swami, Ratnakar Nawale, and Pankaj Atulkar, along with Chikalthana MIDC Police Inspector Geeta Bagwade. Most of the employees working at the call centre were from Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. A majority of them are reportedly engineers by qualification.
The 114 arrested accused were produced before Judicial Magistrate (First Class) V. H. Deshmukh on Tuesday. PI Bagwade sought their police remand. The court remanded 108 accused to judicial custody, while six were sent to police custody until November 6.
