Belagavi (Karnataka), Nov 13 (PTI) A Belagavi-based call centre was busted for allegedly defrauding international victims, and 33 people were arrested in this connection, police said on Thursday.
The operation followed a tip-off from the Internal Security Division (ISD), Bengaluru, three days ago, and an additional anonymous complaint on Wednesday about the suspicious centre.
Based on these inputs, an FIR was registered, and a police team raided Kumar Hall on Bauxite Road, where the centre was operating, police said.
According to Belagavi City Police Commissioner Borse Bhushan Gulabrao, the call centre targeted American citizens using VoIP software such as X-Lite, IBM, and Sophos, along with Urban VPN to mask identities. The accused followed 11 scam scripts, spoke in American accents, and defrauded victims through impersonation and deceit.
A total of 33 people—28 men and five women—were arrested, and 37 laptops and an equal number of mobile phones were seized.
The accused hail from Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal, besides one person from Nepal.
The mastermind of the racket is based in Gujarat, with two others in West Bengal, and police are tracing them.
The call centre has been active since March and was planning to expand operations.
The case was initially registered under Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act for identity theft and cheating by personation using computer resources, and Section 319 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating by personation, police said.
Since the fraud targeted American citizens, Sections 75 of the IT Act and Sections 48 and 49 of BNS, which extend jurisdiction to offences outside India, were added.
Section 42 of the Indian Telegraph Act has also been invoked for tampering with telecom identification and operating a network without authorisation, carrying penalties of up to Rs 50 lakh. Provisions relating to organised crime are also being applied, police said.
Authorities are coordinating with CID Bengaluru for the local probe, and with CBI and Interpol to contact American victims and record their statements via video conferencing under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
Police said the investigation is ongoing to identify other individuals involved and determine whether similar call centres are operating elsewhere. PTI COR AMP SSK ROH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.