International call center racket busted in Mumbai, 6 held

Mumbai Police has said that it has busted an international call center racket and arrested six persons.

"Six persons have been arrested by the Special Team of Detection Crime Branch. Many smartphones, laptops along with illegally procured database have so far been seized. Acting on a specific tip-off the CIU officers, on the night of 29 August, intercepted the person in Malad (W). He was found with unaccounted cash of approximately Rs 5 lakhs on his person along with a small quantity of Ganja (narcotics substance) and cigarettes filled with ganja," a press note from Mumbai police said.

A suspected stolen Yamaha two-wheeler was also found. An offense has been registered at Bangurnagar Police Station CR under sections 3, 4, 420, 34 of the IPC r/w 124 of the Maharashtra Police Act r/w 20 (ii) (a) of the NDPS Act.

"He was produced before the Court where he was remanded to Crime Branch custody till September 10. His bail application has since been rejected. It has revealed during the course of the investigation that the arrested accused is a key person of an international racket, which operates from various cities in India through certain call centers and also from their respective homes," the police said in the press note.

Using information obtained from data brokers and other sources, these racketeers targeted people in the US and Canada who were threatened with arrest, imprisonment, fines, or deportation if they did not pay the alleged money owed to the government, police said.

On the intervening night of September 11 the Special Team of CIU and Unit 11 raided four such illegally operated call centers in Ijmima Market Building and Sej Plaza Marve Road, the press note said.

It added, a total of six persons, arrested during the operation which lasted till wee hours on September 12. These persons were found operating illegal call centers through an illegally obtained database and through several callers who impersonated themselves as American/Canadian persons. They were also found selling, trafficking narcotic substances such as Tramadol, and also unprescribed medicines such as Sildenafil.

"They were produced before the Hon Court and he was remanded to Crime Branch custody till 18 September. The Crime Branch team also found a total of 81 men and 26 women working at these places by flouting all norms of the pandemic situation. All these persons have been indicted with section 188 IPC and other relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act," the press note added.

( With inputs from ANI )