The Satara police busted a bogus call centre operating in Koregaon town of the district on Friday, arresting 17 people allegedly involved in duping US nationals. Most of those arrested are from Mumbai. The police also recovered Rs 21 lakh in Indian currency from the facility.
Details of the Operation
Satara Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pingale stated, "A logistics and consultancy firm had been set up in a building along the Koregaon-Rahimatpur road, in Subhashnagar area of the town, in February." Upon receiving information about suspicious activities, a team of Local Crime Branch (LCB) and Koregaon police personnel searched the building on Friday night. The team found several men and women working at the call centre, who were cheating American citizens via digital means. The court has granted custody of the 17 arrested men until Monday.
Modus Operandi
Inspector Vishwajeet Ghodake of the Satara LCB explained, "When we searched the bogus call centre, operating under the name Shrisai Logistics and Consultants LLP, we found 17 men and four women. They were contacting American citizens online via an app, threatening them with digital arrest, and extorting large sums in dollars through gift vouchers. We seized cash of Rs 21 lakh along with laptops, mobile phones, and data of American citizens from the centre."
Arrested Accused
The arrested individuals have been identified as Sagar Suryavanshi (Mankhurd, Mumbai), Virendra Bodre, Mohammad Shafik Salim Kokane, Ritesh Chouhan (Nalasopara, Mumbai), Babu Chalwade, Dipen Jadhav, Akshay Bhandari (Govandi, Mumbai), Guruprasad Rane (Panvel, Raigad), Manish Joshi (Sagvada, Dindori), Shamsuddin Sayyad (Thane), Gaurav Landge (Lonand, Satara), Abhishek Gupta (Turbhe, Navi Mumbai), Omkar Gharge, Ishant Khandekar (Chembur, Mumbai), Deepak Khandare, Avi Wankhade (Turbhe Naka, Navi Mumbai), and Lebin Simon (Malad, Mumbai).
Investigation Ongoing
Further investigation is underway to ascertain more details about the operations and people involved. The women found working at the call centre are being questioned and have not been booked yet.
