The Pune City Police on Saturday night busted an illegal call centre operating out of Kharadi, which is believed to have duped thousands of US citizens of millions of dollars through a sophisticated ‘digital arrest’ scam. The scam involved call centre agents posing as US law enforcement officers and threatening victims with arrest over alleged involvement in drug-related activities via their Amazon accounts.
To avoid these fake charges, victims were coerced into purchasing Amazon gift cards, which were later encashed and the proceeds transferred via hawala channels or cryptocurrency wallets. Police suspect that the call centre processed around $30,000(₹25 lacks approx.) per day, with the actual scam scale possibly running into millions of US dollars.
The call centre, operating under the name “Magnatel BPS and Consultants LLP”, was located on the 9th floor of the Pride Icon commercial building in Kharadi. During the 10-hour-long raid, police seized 64 laptops, 41 mobile phones, four routers, and other equipment worth ₹13.74 lakh. The devices contained VPN tools, suspicious online apps, and databases of lakhs of US citizens.
Massive Operation Led by ACP, 150 Officers; Five Arrested, Over 100 Questioned
The raid was led by ACP Ganesh Ingle, along with senior inspectors Swapnali Shinde, Shabbir Sayyad, and Ajay Waghmare, involving over 150 police personnel. The police have so far arrested five key accused, identified as:
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Sarjitsingh Shekhawat (26) – Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan
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Abhishek Pande (29) – Ahmedabad, Gujarat
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Shrimay Paresh Shah (31) – Ahmedabad, Gujarat
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Lakshman Shekhawat – Ahmedabad
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Aaron Christian (29) – Ahmedabad
Efforts are underway to nab three more suspects, including Karan Shekhawat from Rajasthan, Ketan Ramani, and Sanjay More.
The arrested individuals, many of whom are 12th pass or less educated, allegedly recruited over 100 English-speaking staffers from northern and north-eastern states. These individuals were trained to mimic US accents and script law enforcement-style threats over WhatsApp calls using VPN software and caller mics. Each staffer was reportedly paid ₹25,000 in cash monthly and instructed to remain silent about the operation’s illegal nature.
One of the masterminds is said to have rented an entire floor of Pride Icon at ₹8 lakh per month, to run the fake BPO setup.
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An FIR has been registered under Sections 316(2), 318(4), 61(1), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant provisions of the IT Act at the Pune Cyber Police Station. Investigations are now focused on:
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Tracing international money flow
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Uncovering the source of leaked US citizen data
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Determining prior BPO links of accused
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Verifying potential complaints lodged by victims in the US
Joint Commissioner of Police Ranjankumar Sharma stated that initial findings suggest the accused were accessing data of around 1 lakh US citizens daily. Police are also probing illegal financial transfers via hawala networks and crypto wallets, and suspect involvement of additional co-conspirators, possibly with past experience in Indian BPOs.
The case is expected to trigger wider investigations in both India and the United States, as law enforcement agencies collaborate to unearth the global footprint of the scam and ensure prosecution of the key players involved.
