Another illegal call centre in Thane busted, owner held

23yearold’s team operated out of a room, did not have licence to make VOIP calls

THANE: The police on Thursday busted yet another call centre operating illegally Thane, this time in Amrut Nagar in Mumbra. While Abdul Wahid Kadir Choudhary, 23, the arrested owner, did not cheat the US citizens, his centre did not have the mandatory licence to make Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) calls.

According to the police, Choudhary got the database of citizens in the US while working with a firm. His team of three who operated out of a single room used to call people in the US, checking if they have got the medical benefits promised by the government and offering ways to do it if they haven’t. If the person agreed to avail of the service, Choudhary’s team would get it done through the insurance companies they had a tie-up with for a commission. The staff members were paid ₹12,000 a month. Police said the staff members were unaware of the illegality.

Kishore Pasalkar, senior inspector from Mumbra police station, said, “Based on the information, we raided the house under the guidance of commissioner Vivek Phansalkar. At the spot, we saw three people working on computers, while Choud- hary was directing them.”

The police have seized cash, computers, phones, laptops and other items from the spot. “The three were let off after questioning. Choudhary had obtained the numbers illegal way,” said Pasalkar. Choudhary has been booked under sections of the IPC and Indian Telegraph Act.

This is one of the several cases that have been unearthed in

Thane. On October 4, 2016, the Thane crime branch along with the Thane rural police raided seven call centres in Mira Road. It was found that fake call centre employees targeted loan defaulters

in the US, by posing as officials from the Internal Revenue Service and department of treasury. Soon after, a fake call centre in Ambernath that was used to cheat US citizens was busted.