Mastermind in Thane call centre scam to be taken to Gujarat

A team from the Thane police will take Sagar ‘Shaggy’ Thakkar, the mastermind of the ₹1,900-crore Thane call centre scam, to his native place in Ahmedabad to identify and asses his investments, allegedly made from the ill-gotten money.

He had surrendered himself to the police and was arrested from the Mumbai airport on Friday.

The scam, which operated since 2013 through at least half a dozen call centres in Thane, targeted at least 15,000 US-based tax payers, who were allegedly conned by Indian tele-callers.

The scam came to light last year when police raided call centres at Mira Road in Thane district on the night of October 4-5. Subsequently, police teams raided and shut down five call centres in Ahmedabad which were a part of the racket.

Ober 70 people, mostly directors and key persons linked to these call centres, were arrested and 700 employees were detained. Thane commissioner Param Bir Singh told HT on Tuesday that the police had obtained leads about Thakkar’s investments in properties and some other businesses.

“We will check those addresses and also the bank accounts as revealed by him,” Singh said, adding that the police would seek court’s intervention to attach those assets. The police will check Thakkar’s three bank accounts during their visit to Gujarat. They will also check hawala channels who helped him en-cash US iTune cards, through his contacts in China for a cut.