Fake call centre: Police start financial probe of suspects

Even as the hunt was on to arrest two prime suspects behind the fake call centre racket involved in cheating citizens across country on the pretext of providing expensive iPhones and Samsung phones at cheaper prices, the cyber cell of the Amritsar police commissionerate have frozen the bank accounts of the suspects and started financial investigations into this.

The raid was carried out by the Cyber Crime Police Station on September 15 at a rented residential building where the centre had been operating for the past three months.

The police had arrested the call centre manager, identified as Raghav Bhardwaj of Pawan Nagar, Batala Road, Amritsar. Two prime accused – Ankit Gangotra of Vijay Nagar and Gautam Thakur of Batala Road – are absconding. “Efforts are underway to arrest them,” the Police Commissioner, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said.

Bhullar said the accused were running an elaborate racket by posting lucrative advertisements on online platforms such as OLX, offering duplicate Apple iPhones and Samsung S24 mobiles at throwaway prices.

Over 80 women employees, each paid between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 monthly, were engaged in contacting unsuspecting customers. They claimed to be unaware that the devices were counterfeit, having been told they were simply facilitating sales. The suspects showcased polished images of counterfeit devices and convinced buyers they were purchasing genuine high-end smartphones.

Investigations revealed that handsets costing over Rs 1 lakh in the market were being offered for just Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000. The gang was reportedly selling 30 to 40 duplicate devices daily, generating nearly Rs 6 lakh in illicit turnover. Buyers, instead of receiving genuine luxury phones, were delivered high-quality replicas.

Rajbir Kaur, SHO, Cyber Cell, confirmed that police have begun probing the financial trail. “We have sought the details of the bank accounts of the suspects. Till now, three accounts have been traced and frozen,” she said.

During the raid, police seized 47 mobile phones of various companies, including 29 with active SIM cards, eight additional SIM cards, and six laptops used in the fraudulent operations.