Thane call centre scam: 2 detained in Ahmedabad

We have detained two men in Ahmedabad. We have certain leads about their involvement with the mastermind of the scam, Sagar Thakkar.

The Thane crime branch on Monday detained two men, who allegedly played a crucial role in the distribution of money among stakeholders of the Thane call centre scam, in Ahmedabad. They are likely to be brought to Thane on Tuesday.

While one of them, who the police suspect is Ricky Sharma, the identity of his aide is yet to be disclosed.

A senior Thane crime branch officer said the questioning of the duo is likely to throw light on the distribution of money. “We have detained two men in Ahmedabad. We have certain leads about their involvement with the mastermind of the scam, Sagar Thakar. We will compare their statements to those of the arrested accused,” the officer said. According to the police, the arrested accused told them the money obtained from the victims in the United States was transferred through hawala channels to Gujarat, with the help of conduits, who got to 20-30% of the earnings as commission.

Of the rest, Thakkar claimed 60%, while 20% each would go to his partners, Haider Mansoori and Tapesh.

While Thakkar and Tapesh are absconding, Haider is in police custody.

The police have learnt some of the arrested accused abused spent the money on buying drugs. Meanwhile, Sufiyan Mohammed, 23, the floor manager at one of the illegal call centres at Hari Om IT park in Mira Road, who was arrested earlier, was remanded in judicial custody on Monday.

Another key accused in the case, Arjun Vasudevan, 23, who is in police custody, will be produced in court on Tuesday.