In a major crackdown on fake call centres, Kolkata Police Cyber Cell conducts raids in Lucknow and Kolkata, 6 arrested for duping Canadian citizen

In a major crackdown, the Kolkata Police Cyber Crime Department conducted a multi-city operation and arrested 6 people on Monday in connection with a fake call center that had duped foreigners. The first input was shared by Interpol Qttawa, Canada through India’s National Central Bureau (NCB). Among the 6 arrested, five were picked up from Lucknow, in a covert operation as the Kolkata Police Cyber Crime Department busted their operations in the Lucknow unit as well, parallel to the main unit operating in Kolkata. The arrested individuals, all youth, have been identified as Md. Zunaid Ansari (24), Md Naushad (25), Azim Khan (21), Mouzzam Ahmed (24), Aman Chowdhury (24) and Shadab Alam 34. Amongst them, Azim Khan hailed from Ginje, Uttar Pradesh and the rest are all from Kolkata, Bengal.

According to officers involved with the operation, a Canadian national had deposited 8000 CAD in multiple installments into bank different accounts with UBI in Kolkata, before the scammers withdrew from the banking channel. Investigation revealed that the scammers made VOIP calls to the victim, posing themselves as employees of a company named M/s Bell Communications. The victim was induced to make payments against services earlier in January this year.

“The account number, mobile numbers through which these accounts were operated, and the device identification details were collected and worked upon which led us to Shadab Alam. He along with Zunaid Ansari are the masterminds while the rest were conduits part of the operations of the scam. Money totaling ₹16,59,600 was recovered from the possession of Shadab, believed to be the proceeds of crime, and other important gadgets, documents, and accounting documents linking his role as a receiver of a part of 8000 CAD were seized”, said a senior police officer from Kolkata Police Cyber Crime Department.

All five arrested in Lucknow will be brought to Kolkata in transit and produced before the court, while Shadab is already in their custody. They have been booked under sections 66, 66C, 66D IT Act, 2000, and Sec. 120B, 419,420, 465, 467,468,471 IPC. Police sources say, these arrests could prove to be a major breakthrough in operations against nationwide fake call centers duping Indian citizens and foreigners, for they could lead investigations to the nefarious modus operandi adopted by the young people and gangs, also involving modern technology at times.