7 arrested as police bust fake call centre

New Delhi: In a major crackdown, Delhi Police on Sunday claimed to have busted a fake call centre involved in swindling job seekers by promising positions within the Airport Authority.

Seven individuals, including 6 women, were arrested during the operation, the officials informed on Sunday.

Chandan Chowdhary, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South Delhi stated that the mastermind behind the nefarious operation, identified as Ansh (23) a resident of sector 44 Noida (UP), was among the apprehended suspects. Following a tip-off received by SI Dharam Singh, the police conducted a well-coordinated raid at H. No. 1899, 3rd floor, Kotla Mubarak Pur, where the illegal call centre was operating.

The authorities seized significant evidence during the raid, including 11 mobile phones, 1 laptop, persuasive scripts used to entice victims, and a database containing the personal information of unemployed individuals who had been deceived by the scamsters, Chaudhary confirmed.

According to preliminary investigations, the call center had been running for approximately three months, during which they targeted job seekers, particularly from Assam, Agartala, Bhuvneshwar, and Uttar Pradesh. The fraudsters lured their victims by claiming to offer employment opportunities within the Airport Authority, coercing them to pay fees ranging from Rs 1,100 to Rs 10,000 as part of the application and processing procedures, DCP South mentioned.

The accused were known to procure the data of unemployed individuals through their alleged kingpin, Ranjan, who is currently evading the authorities.

The arrested individuals are now facing charges under Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, the official said.